Murrumbidgee Medicare Local

Murrumbidgee Medicare Local

Characteristics of the local area:

The Murrumbidgee Medicare Local region has higher percentages than NSW of physical inactivity, overweight and obese males and females, and people with at least one of four risk factors – smoking, harmful use of alcohol, physical inactivity and obesity. The region has a higher proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (4.0 per cent) compared to NSW (2.2 per cent).

New key activities as a Medicare Local:

To meet the strategic objectives for a Medicare Local. the Murrumbidgee Medicare Local will undertake a range of activities that will initially include:

• Extending the Connecting Care Program to link with Home Care Services to provide support when people leave hospital; engaging GPs in the pre-workup for elective surgery patients, particularly those who are diabetic or obese; helping to establish GP after hours services in rural communities; and expanding the shared antenatal care program.
• Increasing access and service provision in mental health.
• Expanding the Closing the Gap program and working with other health services to increase service links and access, and providing education and training to communities on perinatal health.
• Better connecting acute care and follow up primary care between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Outreach Workers.
• Engaging more with the refugee assessment clinic and after hours services.
• Integrating secure communication of electronic medical record data between relevant providers.
• Expanding and creating preventative health programs/health promotion activities based around lifestyle risk factors and increasing access to allied health services such as drug and alcohol counsellors, dieticians and exercise physiologists.

Achievements to date:

Previous activities undertaken by Riverina and Murrumbidgee Divisions of General Practice include:

• Delivering the Connecting Care Chronic Disease Management Program. This has meant fewer hospital admissions due to improved management of chronic disease – by both health provider and patient.
• Better connecting acute care and follow up primary care between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Outreach Workers, through the Murrumbidgee Local Health District Aboriginal 48 Hour Follow-up Program.
• Improving access to specialist care for rural patients, without requiring travel to metropolitan centres, through the Medical Specialist Outreach Assistance Program.
• Improving clinical management, treatment and service coordination for people with mental illness and/or drug and alcohol disorders, and providing access to physical health management through GPs for mental health and drug and alcohol patients under the Mental Health Shared Care Program.
• Increasing access to appropriate care for aged care residents in low care facilities, through engaging with dentists, oral hygienists, physiotherapists, speech pathologists and podiatrists.

Local partnerships:

The Riverina Division of General Practice and Primary Health Ltd, in partnership with Murrumbidgee General Practice Network Ltd, was selected to establish the Murrumbidgee Medicare Local.

Local partnerships are considered essential to the success of the Murrumbidgee Medicare Local. Both formal and informal arrangements have been developing over the past 10 years with Heads of Agreements in place between the Local Health District (LHD) and Divisions, and various Memoranda of Understanding with key health service providers.

In addition the Divisions have several formal consortium arrangements with LHD departments, workforce organisations, research organisations, community organisations, the broader primary health care sector and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health organisations. This ensures that local patients in the Murrumbidgee Medicare Local region are able to transition smoothly in and out of hospital and receive the right care, in the right place, at the right time. In order to further develop strong partnerships and effective relationships with primary health care professionals, key stakeholders and the membership of the Murrumbidgee Medicare Local, the Murrumbidgee Medicare Local will expand the roles of committees to include new and existing members and consumers.

Consultation mechanisms and structure:

The Murrumbidgee Medicare Local will be the driving link between a diverse range of primary health providers, education and training, support organisations and service organisations to deliver locally focused and effective health services. The Murrumbidgee Medicare Local will:

• Ensure significant community input into planning and delivering quality programs and services through the Stakeholder Reference Group, which will advise the Board of Directors.
• Use consumer feedback to continually assess, monitor and evaluate the needs of our communities.
• Foster and develop partnerships across communities and use this process to assess and evaluate activities.
• Use a range of media to engage communities. These will include community forums, a website, program brochures, existing networking, interagency involvement, participation in community activities, direct invitations, media releases plus local newspapers, radio and television.

Contact details:

Riverina Division of General Practice & Primary Health Ltd.
1/185 Morgan Street
Wagga Wagga NSW 2650

Phone: (02) 6923 3100
Fax: (02) 6931 7822
Email: division@rdgp.com.au
Website: www.rdgp.com.au

Murrumbidgee Medicare Local (PDF 588 KB)