Improving after-hours procedures in aged care homes

Background

Primary Health Networks (PHNs) have been funded to assist residential aged care homes (RACH) in response to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. PHNs aim to raise awareness among RACHs about after-hours services provided by general practitioners and other health professionals. These services can provide care within the facility and help prevent unnecessary hospital visits for RACH residents. In collaboration with aged care homes, EMPHN has developed an After-Hours Toolkit to assist staff in identifying the most suitable after-hours service for resident needs.

Enhanced after-hours support for residential aged care homes

After-hours action planning

RACH residents may experience health deterioration outside regular hours, such as at night and on weekends. Immediate transfer to the hospital is not always necessary lack of awareness and utilisation of out-of-hours services provided by GPs (general practitioners) and other health professionals can result in avoidable hospital visits. The After-Hours Toolkit aims to address this issue, by enhancing facility and resident planning.

Telehealth and virtual health consultations can play a large role in connecting residents with doctors. Find more information on how RACHs can improve their virtual capacity.

Toolkit purpose

The After-Hours Toolkit aims to help RACHs find, document, and centralise their plans for the after-hours period. This includes plans for the Home as a whole and for each resident, ensuring greater access to care during after-hours.

What is included in the toolkit?

The toolkit includes a planning guide and self-assessment workbooks divided into 5 components that represent the minimum requirements for inclusion in RACH after-hours plans, as recommended by the Department of Health and Aged Care.

These components are:

• Clinical Governance
• Local Needs and Services
• Workforce
• Infrastructure
• Systems and Processes

The toolkit also includes available after-hours support services in the RACHs local area and demonstrates how these interventions align with the Aged Care Quality Standards (ACQS). It provides access to additional resources and templates to support RACHs during the after-hours period.

You can download the toolkit via the links on the right.

Engage with EMPHN

Provide feedback on the toolkit to EMPHN by completing this feedback form, or over the phone with the aged care team (phone calls organised by emailing rachsupport@emphn.org.au)

To arrange a presentation that will provide insights into utilising and implementing these valuable resources within your organisation, please book here.

To order hardcopies of the Medical Support Checklist for your RACH, please email rachsupport@emphn.org.au.

Acknowledgement

EMPHN would like to acknowledge Victorian and Tasmanian PHNs, the Aged Care Programs Team at EMPHN, and aged care stakeholders across our catchment in the development of this work.

Translated documents

The RACH family fact sheet is available in a range of languages, see below for translated resources: