Page 286 - Week 01 - Thursday, 16 February 2006
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(4) How are patients who reside in hostels and respite care, transported to and from hospital or to other health practitioners when they require blocks of treatment;
(5) Would the Government consider allocating a position that specifically looks after transport arrangements for patients rather than interrupting the work of other staff in their normal duties.
Mr Corbell: The answer to the member’s question is as follows:
(1) ACT Ambulance and NSW Ambulance Services provide interhospital road and air transport for patients requiring transfer to another health facility for specialised medical care. For example burns patients and renal transport recipients.
The ACT Ambulance also provides interfacility patient transfer for treatments, for example radiotherapy is available at the Canberra Hospital not Calvary Health Care.
The ACT and NSW Ambulance Service provides a patient transport service, staffed with non-paramedic staff, for patients who require transport to home, return to another health care facility or residential aged care facility.
Hospital fleet vehicles are used by Hospital in the Home to transport patients home. Fleet vehicles are also used by allied health professionals to accompany a patient home to ensure the safety of the patient and/or conduct an assessment of the home.
On occasions patients are discharged home by taxi. This may be with or without nurse escort, depending on patient condition and destination and most frequently occurs when a relative cannot collect the patient form hospital.
The Crisis Assessment Treatment Team (CATT) transports mental health patients in a hospital vehicle to the Psychiatric Unit and to the Emergency Department.
The police transfer mental health & justice system clients to the Emergency Department, Psychiatric Unit and to the courts.
Patients are transported to clinics by the Home and Community Care (HACC) funded community transport. Patients arrange for this service.
The circumstances under which each option is used is determined by an assessment of the patient, the patient’s medical condition, patient safety issues and discharge planning considering the patient’s living and social support arrangements, determining if the patient resides interstate and the transport available.
(2) Staff are required to arrange transport for all patients. Transport requirements fluctuate, however it would be undertaken several times per day (significantly Monday – Friday).
(3) This is part of normal duties. There is no designated staff member with this responsibility. Unit managers, shift coordinators, bed managers, medical staff and nursing staff regularly undertake this duty.
(4) Patients who reside in hostels and respite care and require transport to and from hospital or to other health practitioners have their transport arrangements made by the hostel.
(5) ACT Health is currently reviewing the patient journey as part of the Access Improvement Program. If the booking of patient transport is identified as an issue, it will be addressed as part of the program.
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