Aged Care & Rehabilitation Clinical Services Plan 2007 – 2012

Aged Care & Rehabilitation Clinical Service Plan 2007 - 20127. SUPRA-REGIONAL SERVICESSupra-regional services based in SSWAHS support a larger catchment than SSWAHS. Theseservices include:Section 7.1 - Liverpool Brain Injury Rehabilitation Unit (Traumatic and Non-Traumatic)Section 7.2 - Burns RehabilitationSection 7.3 - Non-Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury RehabilitationPeople who access these supra-regional services are more likely to be younger and from culturallydiverse communities. These individuals and their families will have varying understanding to dealwith and manage health issues in the longer term.7.1 Liverpool Brain Injury Rehabilitation Unit (Traumatic and Non-Traumatic)The Liverpool Brain Injury Rehabilitation Unit (BIRU) is part of a state-wide network of threetraumatic brain injury units providing services to adults (16-65 years) with a traumatic brain injury.This service complements the existing Rehabilitation Service which treats patients with a traumaticbrain injury older than 65 years, and a proportion of those aged 50 to 65 years.The Liverpool BIRU provides acute inpatient beds, a transitional living unit, and community livingunit. These inpatient units provide support for the south west, the majority of South Eastern IllawarraArea Health Service (SESIAHS), and the majority of southern NSW from Goulburn to Albury.Referrals from other parts of NSW will be accepted on a case by case basis, in consultation withother BIRU’s. Referrals to the inpatient unit are primarily from the acute metropolitan traumahospitals, with Liverpool accounting for 40%, Canberra Hospital 20% and St George Hospital 15%.Residents of the eastern part of the Area access these services through the Royal RehabilitationCentre at Ryde, which is more geographically convenient. As such, traumatic brain injury servicesfor residents in the east are not included in this Plan.Associated outpatient clinics and community support services such as community outreach are alsoprovided, in association with vocational rehabilitation and driving assessment for traumatic braininjury (TBI) based at Liverpool, and driving assessments/retraining, based at Bankstown. In total,these services provided approximately 6,000 individual occasions of service in 2005/06, and morethan 100 group programs provided to over 500 participants.7.1.1 Inpatient Activity 2005/06Current activity in the BIRU shown in Table 7.1 indicates 164 separations from the BIRU in 2005/06,with an average length of stay ranging from 148.55 days in the inpatient unit to 8.53 days in thecommunity living unit. 2005/06 was characterised by a large number of patients with severedisabilities in the inpatient unit who required particularly long lengths of stay. There was 6.5%growth between 2004/05 and 2005/06 in inpatient BIRU services.Table 7.1 BIRU Inpatient Activity 2005/06ServiceBeds2005/06Seps Bed LOS Occ. %DaysInpatient 16 38 5,645 148.55 96.66Transitional Living Unit 4 18 1,230 68.33 86.13Community Living Unit 4 108 921 8.53 64.86TOTAL 24 164 7,796 47.53 88.99Source: SSWAHS Performance Indicator Reports 2005/067.1.2 Current and Emerging Issues• Non-traumatic brain injury services – general rehabilitation units provide the majorityof services to people with a non-traumatic brain injury, along with some limited supportfrom the Liverpool BIRU for people who meet particular criteria. There is a need formore specialised support for this group;• Driver assessment – there are currently long waiting lists to access services; andPage 58