residential aged care facilities outreach
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Residential Aged Care Facilities OutreachNewsletter - Autumn 2021
Welcome to 2021It has been a busy start to the year with the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine for aged care residents and our staff.
We would like to take the opportunity to thank you all for your ongoing communication and collaboration. It’s been key to helping us maintain resident safety and reduce the spread of COVID-19. Residential Aged Care Facility (RACF) nurses are incredibly valued healthcare workers on the frontline. Their work promoting the safety of our residents, staff and community has been especially important during this pandemic. We’re committed to learning and working with you and our stakeholders to provide high quality residential aged care, in the right place and at the right time in 2021. We are here with you!
AchievementsRACF phone call triage 24 days, 7 days a week
After-hours nursing staff face challenges when signs of deterioration develop overnight. Handover processes from shift to shift, and regular rounding (and assessment) are crucial for night shift nurses to identify any associated or potential risks and signs that may exist or develop.
The Access Care Team provides a telephone triage service to support nurses and link residents of RACFs with appropriate assistance including specialist nursing and medical support.
The Access Care Team and RPA Virtual now provide telephone triage capabilities 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - crucial to assist your nursing staff overnight.
Call the Access Care Team 1300 722 276 any time. Calls after 8pm are diverted to RPA Virtual Hospital who will take referrals and facilitate any care needs or clinical advice overnight.
RACF Clinical Support Guideline is now availableOur long-awaited RACF Clinical Support Guideline has been published and distributed to all facilities. (You may have heard us call it a ‘flip chart’ because it’s bound by a hoop in one corner and the pages can be ‘flipped’).
The RACF Clinical Support Guideline consolidates a range of readily-available information, grouped into three sections for ease of use:
1. Medical emergency 2. Clinical advice 3. Other resources and tools
Some notes about RACF Clinical Support Guideline:• Includes troubleshooting flowcharts, suggested
care and escalation processes for most of the common clinical issues.
• Includes popular resources, such as the wound product guide.
• Nurses can use the RACF Clinical Support Guideline to guide their routine comprehensive assessment and team communication.
SLHD-89495Last updated: April 2021
When staff identify early signs of deterioration they can use the guidelines as a reminder of timely, quality, resident-centered care planning as a team.
• The Guideline does not take the place of professional or medical advice. It is important to identify if the resident’s condition is an emergency, acute or sub-acute in nature. Always consider your resident’s advance care planning wishes.
• Any resident requiring medical advice or treatment should be referred to their treating General Practitioners first whenever possible (and appropriate), unless it is a medical emergency and immediate hospital transfer is indicated.
• Our Access Care Team is available 24/7 on 1300 722 276 if you need further assistance, advice or referral to teams like RACF Outreach.
• Extended Care Paramedic (ECP) may also be contacted for RACF support if needed. ECP are experienced paramedics who have completed specialised training. Their clinical roles include patient assessment, recognition and management of minor illness and minor injury presentation. They can also provide definitive care and referral to community-based health services where required.
We hope the RACF Clinical Support Guideline is a handy education tool and resource for nursing care staff and their day-to-day care, to empower decision making in conjunction with the facility policies and resources already in place.
Our clinical nurse educator presented the RACF Clinical Support Guideline in the Collaborative Care Zoom meeting with Sydney Local Health District staff and facility representatives in January. It has been shared with General Practitioners and NSW Ambulance so we’re all working towards the same goals of quality care. Our Outreach Nurses will provide ongoing education to support its use.
Please contact the Access Care Team on 1300 722 276 if you have any queries regarding availability and use of the RACF Clinical Support Guideline.
RACF Clinical Support Guideline: www.slhd.nsw.gov.au/ACRS/residentialcare.html
Hard copies have also been distributed to your facility.
1
A guide for making decisions about unwell residents and their referral to SLHD RACF Outreach Service
Sydney Local Health District (SLHD)Clinical Support Guidelines for Residential Aged Care Facilities (RACFs)
For clinical triage and advice contact Access Care Team (ACT)
Phone: 1300 722 276
SectionMedical Emergencies
SectionClinical Advice
SectionOther Resources and Tools
3 Right Care3 Right Time3 Right Place
Innovative service delivery with RACF Telehealth TriageTo meet some of the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, many healthcare providers and their clients have adopted information and communication technologies (telehealth) to provide or access ongoing healthcare services.
There will always be a role for physical touch and face-to-face meetings. However, we’re inspired by how quickly our community of care has adapted to, and benefited, from digital modes of education, collaboration and communication.
We’ve all learned together how to transition to new healthcare technologies and we thank you for your patience and understanding. Since April 2020, we’ve met virtually for more than 20 SLHD/RACF Collaborative Care Zoom meetings.
Integrating telehealth into our model of careA telehealth triage model enables timely triage and consultation while providing access to real-time resident triage at the bedside. This can greatly facilitate clinical assessment, decision making and care planning via the telehealth setting.
We plan to integrate RACF Telehealth Triage further into the RACF Outreach Model of Care.
Last year, RACF Outreach received extremely positive feedback from surveying all RACFs in Sydney Local Health District to ascertain technical and logistical readiness.
Next, we plan to run a pilot program of our RACF Telehealth Triage service in five RACFs, before extending it across the District.
We’re excited to see how telehealth and videoconferencing can reduce barriers to access, and increase the reach of healthcare services in a range of settings, especially during the pandemic. Stay tuned for more updates, as we keep you across key milestones and exciting developments.
RACF Outreach team leaders recognised Congratulations to Dr Natasha Spalding and Jodi McLeod of RACF Outreach, winners of the Collaborative Leader of the Year Award at the 2020 Sydney Local Health District Annual General Meeting.
The Collaborative Leader of the Year Award recognises staff members who demonstrate exceptional collaboration, and who work collaboratively with support teams to improve patient care. We’re very fortunate to have Natasha and Jodi lead our RACF Outreach team. They collaborate extensively with stakeholders from across the District, NSW Health and local aged care facilities to provide exceptional, resident- centered, innovative services with cultural perspectives.
Congratulations Natasha and Jodi!
Dr Natasha Spalding and Jodi McLeod receive the Collaborative Leader award.
RACF educationThe Sydney Local Health District Centre for Education and Workforce Development (CEWD) is a registered training organisation.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions on non-essential gatherings, most of the CEWD courses were cancelled or postponed last year. Workshops will start again soon.
When available, upcoming course details will be posted on the course calendar or CEWD website www.slhd.nsw.gov.au/cewd
Our Clinical Nurse Educator and RACF Outreach team will keep you updated with relevant education resources. If required, education can be delivered via video-conference.
To discuss your education needs or to schedule a session, ask one of our Outreach nursing clinicians, or contact Carrie Lam, our Access Care Team educator on 1300 722 276 or via [email protected].
Reading cafeNSW Health COVID-19: Advice for aged care services www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/covid-19/Pages/aged-care.aspx
NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation (ACI) Aged Health Network aci.health.nsw.gov.au/networks/aged-health
Visit the Clinical Commission Excellence for a range of resources including COVID-19 Infection Prevention and Control www.cec.health.nsw.gov.au
Sydney Local Health District RACF Clinical Support Guideline
www.slhd.nsw.gov.au/ACRS/content/pdf/85824%20Clinical%20Support%20RACF%20Flipchart%20v21.pdf
slhd.nsw.gov.au Sydney, it’s your local health district
ContactsAccess Care Team
The Access Care Team (ACT) available 24 hours, 7 days a week to provide triage advice, discuss particular circumstances or to accept referrals.
(Calls from 8pm to 8am are managed by RPA Virtual Hospital).
Call 1300 722 276 Fax (02) 9767 7026 Email [email protected]
Online referral form: www.slhd.nsw.gov.au/ACRS/form/RIC_Referral_Form.pdf
Note: Referral forms sent to ACT after hours will be processed.
RACF Outreach Team
The RACF Outreach Team is available 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday, and 8am to 4.30pm on weekends and public holidays. Residents can also be referred to our medical team for specialist geriatrician consultation. Referrals must be made by a General Practitioner. Please ensure the referral includes the resident’s medical conditions, current treatments, medications, and the reasons for consultation.
Extended Care Paramedic
Extended Care Paramedic (ECP) is available 7am to 7pm, 7 days a week, via NSW Ambulance Transport Booking on 13 12 33 (select option 3)
NSW Health Public Health Units
Call NSW Health on 1300 066 055 to be directed to your local Public Health Unit.
Sydney Local Health District Public Health Unit
Call (02) 9515 9420 After hours call Royal Prince Alfred Hospital on (02) 9515 6111 and ask for the Public Health Officer on call Fax (02) 9515 9467 (secure line)
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