Ready to Go Home Project
The Ready to Go Home Project (external site) is a three-year project funded through the Department of Social Services (Mainstream Capacity Building grants) in partnership with National Disability Services in WA focussing on:
- addressing delays to hospital discharge for people with a disability
- improving the hospital experience
- improving the interface between health and disability (community) services
The target group are people with disability aged 18-64 years (including NDIS participants) who are experiencing a delay in discharge from hospital to home. The project commenced in April 2020 and concludes in March 2023.
Lymphoedema Garment and Allied Health Therapies Program
The Lymphoedema Garment and Allied Health Therapies Program (external site) was announced by the Australian Governement Department of Health in March 2020. A Project Agreement was negotiated with Western Australia and the Commonwealth.
The overarching program objectives are:
- To increase access to lymphoedema compression garments in Western Australia.
- To contribute to activities that promote increased access to allied health professionals appropriately trained in the prescription of compression garments for lymphoedema
- To contribute to activities that increase access to allied health professionals to enable the timely assessment of patients requiring compression garments.
An example of projects supported by the program is the WA Health Prospective Surveillance Model of Care (PSM) Pilot Project for Early Detection of Lymphoedema. The PSM pilot is being undertaken by the Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy Departments at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in collaboration with CAHO and involves the monitoring of pre-clinical changes in oedema to upper limbs post breast and regional nodal surgeries following a diagnosis of breast cancer. Where indicated patients are referred to the Occupational Therapy Lymphoedema Clinic service for early intervention.
14th National Allied Health
Conference
From 9-12 August 2021 the WA Chief
Allied Health Office hosted the 14th National Allied Health
Conference (external site). This conference is the preeminent Australian conference for
allied health professionals, attracting professionals from across the country and internationally. With the
challenges presented by COVID-19, the conference was held virtually for the first time. It attracted more than
800 delegates and 400 abstract submissions.
The conference provided an opportunity
for professionals to showcase their great work as well as discuss key issues relevant to allied health including
national reforms in the rural health and aged care sectors, digital and technological innovation and the allied
health response to challenges presented by COVID-19. Additionally, it provided an opportunity to hear from some
of the leading speakers and experts on these issues.
One of the highlights was keynote
speaker Sam Bloom, 2 times World Para Surfing champion, author, and inspiration behind the movie Penguin
Bloom, who shared her story and spoke of her positive experiences with allied health
professionals.
WA will host the 15th
National Allied Conference (external site) in August 2023.
Allied health workforce
reports
CAHO has produced the following
reports:
Standardised position titles
are available at Standardised
position titles (health.wa.gov.au).
Enhanced Access Community Pharmacy Pilot
The Chief Allied Health Office is collaborating with key stakeholders to design and implement the Enhanced Access Community Pharmacy Pilot. This project aims to provide Western Australians with additional access to treatment for a range of common health conditions, by enabling qualified community pharmacists to manage, treat, and prescribe for a specific range of health conditions. Service delivery will commence by 2027.
Further information about the pilot is available here.
Collaborative Prescribing Project
The Chief Allied Health Office is leading the Collaborative Pharmacist Medication Prescribing (CPMP) initiative, which enables specially trained hospital pharmacists to prescribe medications collaboratively with doctors, under an agreed management plan.
CPMP in as extension of Partnered Pharmacist Medication Charting (PPMC), first introduced in WA hospitals in 2017. PPMC has delivered positive results, including reduced medication errors, shortened patients’ length of stay in hospital, and lower admission costs. Similar collaborative model can also be used at other stages of a patient’s journey, including at discharge.
CPMP further optimises the health workforce by improving workflows, increasing medical practitioner capacity, and supporting pharmacist attraction and retention through innovative models of care.
This initiative supports key WA Health strategic priorities, including the Sustainable Health Review and the WA Health Workforce Strategy 2034 - Implementation Plan. CPMP will be supported by a dedicated framework and a pharmacist training package. Amendments to the Medicines and Poisons Regulations 2016 are required to facilitate this, with implementation expected in 2026.