Transcript Document

Opportunities for General
Practice Liaison Officers
(GPLO) in Outpatient
Departments
Ms Ann Maree Liddy
CEO
Current Situation in Queensland
• General Practice Liaison Officers or Units have existed in
most Australian states sine the 1990s
• Most roles have been developed ad hoc
• GPLO program strengthened over the years, but varying
investment across the nation
• Approximately 95 GPLOs across Australia, with a
number of units across Australia (Tasmania, NT, ACT,
WA, Victoria)
• Currently 11 GPLOs in QLD
Current GPQ Work
 QLD Health engaged GPQ to undertake a project to
assist the Queensland Clinical Senate in developing a
policy position on GP Liaison roles.
 Purpose:
- To review the roles and skill requirements of the current
GPLO workforce to improve the GP – Hospital interface
- Develop a statewide policy framework and implementation
plan for ‘GP Liaison’
 Steering Committee established
Using an Evidence-Based
Approach
 Literature review:
- The use and impact of GPLOs working to improve the
interface
- Barriers
- Enablers
- Practice skills of current GLO workforce
 Semi-structured interviews (35 participants)
Evidence from the Literature
GPLO roles have been shown to:
• Reduce patient hospital usage;
• Improve communication between primary and hospital
sectors;
• Increase the skills of primary care team;
• Improve treatment compliance;
• Reduce unnecessary referrals hospital sector.
What was developed?
 GPLO model and scope of practice includes:
- Principles of the role
- Standards for integration
- How the model would integrate with national health reform
- Role descriptions and scope of practice
- KPIs
- Sustainability
 GPLO implementation plan for Queensland
Opportunities for Outpatient
Departments
• The Australian Government has asserted that:
“LHHNs and MLs will need to work together…ensuring that
there are appropriate clinical pathways between settings,
such as clinical handover or on discharge from hospital;
better integration of services; and identifying and addressing
service gaps especially at the interface between primary
and acute care”
Opportunities Cont.
GPLOs could assist in reaching four hour access target for
EDs by coordinating ML/LHHN activity through:
• Providing GPs with information on ED and access to ED
physician hotlines to assist in patient management
• Improving referral and communication processes to
reduce re-presentations
• Developing local social marketing strategies to
encourage appropriate use of ED services and access to
PHC
• Developing models of care such as collocated clinics and
building linkages with after hours services
Opportunities Cont.
GPLOs could also contribute to meeting elective surgery
access targets through facilitating ML/LHHN activity in:
• Ensuring GPs have access to info on Specialist Clinics
(E.g. wait times) so GPs can provide patients with
options around care
• Assisting GPs to have access to pre-referral guidelines
and specialist support to manage non-urgent patients in
the community
• Improving discharge communication
• Ensuring GPs are provided with guidance on
management of condition in preparation for surgery
Examples of Outcomes
Townsville based ‘Strategy for Managing Aged Referrals’
• Purpose of the project was to implement a process for
reducing the number of ‘long wait’ patients awaiting
specialist outpatient appointments – particularly
orthopaedic specialty area
• Changes to the referral system were made, along with
comprehensive change management process and
education program
• Significant reductions in orthopaedic SOPD wait times
• Key success factor was utilisation of the Townsville
GPLO
Examples of Outcomes Cont.
Gold Coast model to reduce SOPD wait lists:
• Development of SOPD resource directory so that GPs
are aware of eligibility criteria for clinics, services offered,
contact details, doctors within each and the pre-requisite
tests to be completed prior to first appointment
• Development of a suite of referral templates for GPs
• Loading templates onto GPs desktop software so they
can be populated from patient files
• Establishment of electronic messaging systems in the
SOPD bookings and referral centre to be able to receive
secure electronic referrals from GPs.
Finally…
• The opportunities for utlising GPLOs in Outpatient
Departments presented today are by no means an
exhaustive list
• Implementing new (and building on existing) local
General Practice Liaison programs would be timely,
achievable and practical to improving the hospital /
primary health care interface
• The GPLO workforce can drive improvements in cross
sector relationships and cultural change
• More information on the GPLO Model and Scope of
Practice developed by GPQ is available.
Thank you