Ms Sue-Ellen Hogg1, Mr Timothy Bear1, Ms Zoe Gulliver1
1Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, Wollongong, Australia
Biography:
Sue-Ellen Hogg is a speech pathologist and researcher who is currently working as the Director of Speech Pathology in the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District (NSW). She has 18 years’ experience leading allied health teams, and is passionate about improving equity of services utilising innovative models of care. She is currently involved in a number of local and national research projects focused on the translation of research into practice and improving access for rural and regional consumers.
Abstract:
Allied health clinicians play a critical role in optimising hospital flow. Early access to allied health assessment and intervention improves patient outcomes and timely discharge. Yet allied health staffing dedicated to the emergency department (ED) is under-resourced in most hospitals.
A review of local allied health activity revealed the average time to first allied health contact for acute inpatients was 61 hours and activity in the ED was well below peer hospitals.
As part of a winter strategy to support access and flow and improve early access to allied health care, an allied health ED navigator was piloted. The allied health navigator conducted an interdisciplinary functional assessment, commenced care in the ED and identified patients who could be discharged with support from alternate services.
The pilot outcomes were impressive with 25% of patients seen by the ED navigator discharged from ED. For each likely admission avoided there was an estimated 5 bed-day saving. Furthermore, patients who were admitted but had their allied health care started in the ED, had an average length of stay 31 hours shorter than matched patients who were not seen by the navigator.
Factors underpinning the success of this model, including the discipline and work experience of the clinicians, as well as the role of culture and leadership, will be discussed.
The challenges and implications of establishing and sustaining new models of care that optimise the utilisation and value of the allied health workforce will also be explored.