The My Home Hospital program is now treating patients for a wider range of health conditions and has expanded its service by delivering care to those living outside of the Adelaide metropolitan area.
Minister for Health and Wellbeing Stephen Wade said residents within the Gawler Health Service catchment area, including Mallala, Two Wells and Freeling, are now able to receive hospital care in the comfort of their own home.
"The Marshall Liberal Government is actively reducing pressure on our Emergency Departments (EDs) and hospitals through innovative programs like My Home Hospital which are delivering health care closer to home and are already showing positive results," said Minister Wade.
"Since commencing in January, the My Home Hospital service has treated more than 580 patients ranging from 17 to 100 years old, diverting those people away from our metropolitan hospitals while still providing the hospital level care they need.
"20 percent of My Home Hospital patients have received their care in a residential aged care facility, with the most common conditions receiving hospital-level treatment at home being cellulitis, followed by kidney and urinary tract infections, and pneumonia.
"Expanding services to the outer north and to patients with a wider range of health conditions, will enable more patients to have the option to receive treatment at home when safe and appropriate.
Under the expansion, the My Home Hospital service is broadening its scope to provide at-home health care for people requiring specific post-operative care, as well as those with pulmonary embolism, chronic heart failure and infections requiring intravenous antibiotics such as mastitis.
"My Home Hospital is a service provided by Wellbeing SA, delivered by a joint venture between Calvary and Medibank. The expansion of the service is being made possible by the recruitment and training of additional clinical staff by the joint venture."
Wellbeing SA Acting Chief Executive, Jeanette Walters, said the expansion into Gawler was made possible through close collaboration with Gawler Health Service, Barossa Hills Fleurieu Local Health Network (BHFLHN), local General Practices and the Calvary Medibank joint venture.
"The BHFLHN has been involved in the design and development of My Home Hospital from the very beginning, with plans to further expand into Mount Barker and the Southern Fleurieu following the commencement in Gawler," Ms Walters said.
"There is significant research that highlights the potential benefits of hospital-in-the-home services, and expanding the service to new conditions was done through an extensive review of services interstate and overseas and further refined through extensive clinician and community engagement."
Gawler Health Service's Acting Director of Nursing and Midwifery, Sue Renshaw, from the BHFLHN, said people living in the Gawler Health Service catchment area can now be referred to My Home Hospital through their GP, medical specialist, nurse practitioner, hospital team or through the ED.
"We have many patients who are suitable for My Home Hospital and I am sure they will welcome the opportunity to receive treatment in the familiar surroundings of their home and avoid the stresses of being admitted to hospital."
For more information, visit myhomehospital.sa.gov.au.
