Dear Preferred Provider,
We wanted to take this opportunity to update all of our Preferred Providers that following a recent NSW Ministry of Health Procurement round, Care Connect has been successful in retaining its contract to provide ComPacks and SASH program services in the following NSW Local Health Districts:
- Northern NSW
- South East Sydney
- North Sydney
- St Vincent’s
- Illawarra Shoalhaven
In addition to retaining these existing services, we are pleased to advise that we have also been entrusted by the Ministry to provide End of Life (EoL) care in these LHDs.
EoL clients can access a 6-week package of care and apply for another repeat package of care if required – similar to SASH clients. Like ComPacks and SASH, EoL Referrals are made by the Local Health District.
Going forward, the three programs will now be referred to collectively as the ‘Out of Hospital Care’ (OHC) program. Services provided under the OHC program provide eligible* people in NSW with immediate access to community case management and non-clinical, low level in-home care services, to:
- reduce a person’s unnecessary length of stay in hospital
- prevent avoidable hospital admissions
* OHC is available to people of all ages who are either in-patients of a NSW Health public hospital or have been referred for OHC services by a NSW Health Community Health Team – note that OHC programs are not open to general community referrals.
Eligible people may have acute or chronic health conditions or disabilities that impact on their ability to manage activities of daily living. These factors place them at risk of unnecessary hospitalisation.
Out of Hospital Care is not available for people who require long-term intensive levels of homecare.
INFORMATION PERTINENT TO PREFERRED PROVIDERS WHO PROVIDE OHC SERVICES IN THE ABOVE NSW LHD’s:
Preferred Providers that will work with us to deliver OHC services should have received an email. If you have not received this information via email, and will be providing OHC services for Care Connect, please let us know by emailing: procurement@careconnect.org.au
EoL program eligibility:
People of any age that:
- have progressive life-limiting conditions
- are experiencing a palliative care phase that is unstable or deteriorating
- have a condition that limits their ability to manage their daily living tasks
- wish to die in their own homes or to remain at home for as long as possible
- have family members or a Carer that requires support.
Types of Care under the EoL program:
Care may consist of, but is not limited to:
- Personal Care
- Domestic Assistance
- Meal Preparation
- Transport to medical and other appointments
- Shopping
- Social Support
We also anticipate that the EoL program will include support for the clients’ Carer. This may take the form of respite and transport.
If you will be working with Care Connect to provide its clients with EoL care services, you will need to ensure that you continue to provide safe and effective care in the home, through:
- careful matching of care worker and client, care worker qualities must include:
- maturity, awareness, sensitivity, respect, empathy, compassion and resilience
- committing to communicate ALL relevant client information to the care worker, so that they are clear on what they are required to do on each shift;
- as is usual practice, Care Connect will communicate all relevant client information via a Request for Service form. For EoL clients, this will include important, and at times highly sensitive, additional information that Care Connect will extract from a clients’ Advanced Care Plan
- providing timely feedback and escalation of any changes in a clients’ condition. Please follow Care Connect’s notification policy
- ensuring that all care workers:
- are well versed on the Care Connect Code of Conduct
- have a valid Working with Children’s check
- adhere to privacy and confidentiality protocols as per the Terms and Conditions in your agreement with Care Connect.
Tools & Resources for developing essential skills for EoL Care:
There are several learning and development resources available online that may support you to educate, guide and build/improve the skill level and resilience of your EoL care workers:
- ELDAC: eldac.com.au/
- PEPA: pepaeducation.com/
- RED NOSE: rednose.org.au/
- palliAGED: palliaged.com.au/
- PALLCARE TRAINING: pallcaretraining.com.au/
- EoL Law Australia (QUT): end-of-life.qut.edu.au/
- Advanced Care Planning Australia: www.advancecareplanning.org.au/
- Palliative Care NSW: palliativecarensw.org.au/
- The Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement: grief.org.au/
- PALLCARE ONLINE: ahha.asn.au/pallcareonline
As we ramp up our updated OHC offering, we will be developing additional resources for our Preferred Providers to learn more and have questions answered. We will keep you advised as these become available. If you have any immediate questions or need additional information urgently, please contact Marisa Galiazzo, National Program Manager, Out of Hospital Care : mgaliazzo@careconnect.org.au
We look forward to working with you to successfully deliver the OHC program.
Yours sincerely,
Eileen Keane