Aged Care & Rehabilitation Clinical Services Plan 2007 – 2012

Aged Care & Rehabilitation Clinical Service Plan 2007 - 2012Table 8.1 GPs in SSWAHS 2005Division Members 1 Nonmembers1 Total estimatesPopulation2004 ABSFTE GP:populationratio 2003 5Approx. No. ofGPs who speak alanguage otherthan English 2,3,4Bankstown 175 21 196 175,428 1:1,107 102Canterbury 154 49 203 135,048 1:1,185 102Central Sydney 350 210 560 366,347 1:1,119 350Fairfield 190 28 218 187,683 1:1,187 143Liverpool 115 41 156 167,880 1:1,602 66Macarthur 176 34 210 200,263 1:1,584 83Southern 50 2 52 45,000 6 1:1,525 1 5Total 1,210 385 1,595 1,277,649 N/A 8511. The seven Divisions of General Practice in SSWAHS (September 2005)2. Database (GPs in Western Zone 2004) GP Unit, SSWAHS3. Eastern Zone GP database SSWAHS intranet4. Medical Directory of Australia 20055. Annual Survey of Divisions – Primary Health Care Research & Information Service www.phcris.org.au/resources/divisions6. Wingecarribee Shire CouncilSSWAHS works with the Divisions of General Practice on various collaborative projects to improvethe care of the aged care client.The new Medicare Plus scheme offers opportunities for the health service to improve the chroniccare of older people. The development of care plans, combined with education, will assist in thechronic disease management of the aged care client. Issues to cover include hypertension,diabetes, immunisation, Chronic Airways Limitation (CAL), Congestive Cardiac Failure (CCF),nutrition, living alone, health literacy, culture, exercise, smoking and alcohol. In the frail elderly, thisshould be expanded to include falls, osteoporosis, functional decline, multiple medications, posturalhypotension, vision, hearing, arthritis, dementia and depression. Other programs targetingmanagement of the aged care client in residential aged care facilities, communication,pharmaceutical interventions and after hours care need to be implemented.Improving the way in which SSWAHS and GPs work together to meet the needs of AC&RS clientsmay be achieved through initiatives such as the establishment of a locality based GP liaison servicesupporting initiatives in aged care and chronic and complex care, or creation of GP liaison positionswithin each ACAT. Enhanced rapid response clinical capacity into community and residential care,triggered in response to GP referrals, is also required.Table 8.2 shows activity recorded by Medicare n relation to enhanced primary care and support byGPs in residential aged care facilities in 2004/05 and 2005/06. It is evident that GPs have investedgreater time in many Enhanced Primary Care (EPC) and Residential Aged Care Facility (RACF)initiatives over the recording period. However, only some Divisions have experienced growth in thenumber of home based EPC assessments.Table 8.2 2005/06 GP Activity for Enhanced Primary Care and RACFsDivision of Enhanced Primary Care Enhanced Primary Attendance by GP atGeneral Practice 2004/05 2005/06 2004/05 2005/06 2004/05 2005/06Central Sydney 2,563 2,637 1,165 1,128 351 475Canterbury 914 1,007 334 337 N/A N/ABankstown 1,680 1,718 565 507 130 184Fairfield 1,642 1,903 264 262 162 177Liverpool 554 643 200 280 N/A 362Macarthur 1,038 1,162 128 140 157 N/ASouthern 231 485 140 178 69 158Source: Medicare Australia Divisions of General Practice Reports 2004/05 & 2005/06* Activity is by care recipient, not the number of visits madeNote: the above data only relates to the volume of services that have been processed by Medicare Australia. The figures do notinclude services provided by hospital doctors to public patients in public hospitals, or MBS services that qualify for a benefit underthe Department of Veteran's Affairs National Treatment AccountPage 68