Patients Awaiting Aged Care Services Policy

MP 0173/22 - Patients Awaiting Aged Care Services Policy (pdf 179KB)

Applicable to: Health Service Providers that provide care to older people.

Description: The WA health system is committed to providing the Western Australian community with timely and equitable access to health services and ensuring the efficient use of available resources in public hospitals. This includes supporting timely discharge planning for older patients by prioritising a ‘home-first’ approach where clinically appropriate and facilitating access to suitable aged care services as soon as patients are medically cleared for discharge.

 

The policy aims to achieve the following:

• reduce discharge delay for older Western Australians
• support demand management and capacity optimisation in WA public hospitals
• increase delivery of aged care assessments to improve access to aged care services
• ensure patients who are medically ready for discharge do not undertake aged care related decision making or wait for their preferred aged care service while in hospital
• define the roles and responsibilities of the Aged Care Hub (ACH) and Health Service Providers (HSPs) to strengthen accountability and performance regarding discharge of patients awaiting aged care services
• ensure HSPs use the Transition and Aged Care Services (TACS) system to keep records of patients awaiting aged care services.

Legislation pertinent to this policy includes:

• Aged Care Act 2024 (Cth)
• Guardianship and Administration Act 1990 (WA)

This policy is a mandatory requirement for HSPs under the Clinical Services Planning and Programs Policy Framework pursuant to section 26(2)(c) of the Health Services Act 2016.

 

This policy is also a mandatory requirement for the Department of Health pursuant to section 29 of the Public Sector Management Act 1994.

This policy is to be read in conjunction with:

• MP 0095/18 Clinical Handover Policy
• MP 0171/22 Recognising and Responding to Acute Deterioration Policy
• MP 0186/24 Use of Restrictive Practices in Non-Authorised Healthcare Settings Policy
• MP 0164/21 Patient Activity Data Policy

Date of effect: 09 September 2022

Policy Framework

Clinical Services Planning and Programs

Related documents

WA Health Patient Fees and Charges Manual

Supporting information

Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing: Transition Care Programme Guidelines

WA-Transition-Care-Program-Guidelines (pdf 1MB)

My Aged Care Assessment Manual