CQ Health’s Allied Health team has been chosen to share its success at Queensland Health’s Clinical Excellence Showcase next week.
The showcase shines a spotlight on ways Queensland Health clinicians are partnering with and listening to their communities to make sure they can access good quality health care.
Allied Health Principal Project Officer Kellie Preston is presenting on the successful implementation of the Allied Health Integrated Model of Care Framework. This framework reimagines patient care by focusing on the patient’s perspective, aiming to optimise the use of the diverse, agile and innovative allied health workforce.
In doing so, Central Queenslanders receive the care in the right place, at the right time. This aligns with the Showcase topic Better Care Pathways - patient flow, improved access, and community initiatives.
The approach to achieving Great Care for Central Queenslanders was to focus on the implementation of seven-day service models, as well as realising a value-based shift away from traditional acute-focused services toward out-of-hospital care.
This was achieved through mobilisation and reallocation of existing resources, based on the hypothesis that a whole-of-system approach would result in enhanced patient access, experience, and outcomes, at no additional cost to the health service.
From 2022 to 2023, the allied health team went on an implementation journey with six new models of care that fell within the two key domains of ‘Care Where You Live’ and ‘Care in Hospital’.
‘Care Where You Live’ initiatives:
- Allied health rapid response team (Early Access Team and HiTH)
- Expansion of allied health virtual care
‘Care in Hospital’ initiatives:
- Allied Health Assistant 7-day general medical service
- Weekend rehabilitation services
- 7-Day speech pathology service expansion
- GERI Emergency Department allied health service
The team analysed 78,805 inpatient and outpatient journeys over two separate 10-month periods. They achieved more efficient management of patient demand and improved access to care without additional resources. By shifting focus from inpatient care to out-of-hospital services, they effectively treated more patients in the most appropriate settings.
The initiative also improved job satisfaction among the allied health workforce in Central Queensland, with notable improvements in the satisfaction with the quality and accessibility of services provided. Additionally, there was an increase in confidence and capability in telehealth, delegation to allied health assistants, and acute care proficiency among speech pathologists. A financial review of the initiative showed that these improvements in care models were achieved without incurring additional costs to the health service.
The Clinical Excellence Showcase will be held on May 14-15 in Brisbane, and online.