Wentworth Healthcare is the provider of the Nepean Blue Mountains Primary Health Network (NBMPHN). The organisation works with and supports general practice, other primary healthcare providers and the many health and non-health stakeholders across the region (Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury, Lithgow and Penrith).
Challenge: GPs in the Nepean Blue Mountains region expressed the need for a more streamlined process of orthopaedic presentations/admissions through Nepean Hospital’s Emergency Department (ED) from General Practice. In many cases GPs were unsure of whether to send a patient to ED or not, requiring advice from an orthopaedic specialist on treatment options.
Steps: Julie Nance worked with Nepean Hospital’s Head of Orthopaedics to establish a GP Orthopaedics Advice Line. A dedicated orthopaedics mobile phone was carried by a senior orthopaedics registrar or fellow, allowing GPs quick and easy access to the most up-to-date senior advice and referral pathways.
The Advice Line was heavily promoted to GPs before and after the March 2017 launch, including in the GP Grapevine bulletin and through a mail-out.
Outcome: The trial was a success and the Advice Line continues as an ongoing initiative. It provides the following benefits:
- Increases the capacity and confidence of GPs to manage an increased number of orthopaedic presentations with the support of timely and reliable advice delivered by a senior orthopaedic clinician. This also saves patients waiting potentially hours in ED for treatment.
- Supports a more streamlined process of orthopaedic presentations/admissions through the ED from General Practice.
- Reduces the number of referrals to ED and potentially preventable hospitalisations.