GP guide targets aged care

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners has issued new advice for improving collaboration between GPs and residential aged care staff.

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners has launched its first guide for improving collaboration with aged care staff.

RACGP President Dr Liz Marles said the best practice guide will help GPs and residential aged care staff to clearly identify roles and responsibilities in the delivery of multi-disciplinary care.

The guide was developed by the RACGP’s National Standing Committee for General Practice Advocacy and Support and was designed to align with the Living Longer, Living Better aged care reforms.

Dr Marles said she hoped the guide would help foster stronger relationships between GPs and aged care staff and streamline collaborative arrangements to support patient outcomes.

“The guide aims to offer older Australian people living in RACFs access to safe, high quality, coordinated and timely care,” she said.

“Due to the complexity of multidisciplinary care needs and the provision of care by multiple providers, it is essential that systems of care and collaborative arrangements are clearly defined.”

The eight key areas covered in the guide are:

  • Access to clinical care and medical records
  • Protocols for referral arrangements
  • Communication protocols
  • Medication management
  • Pathology and imaging
  • After-hours care and emergency medicine
  • Remuneration for non-MBS reimbursed work
  • Ongoing review of collaboration and quality assurance

The ‘Best practice guide for Collaborative Care between General Practitioners and Residential Aged Care Facilities’ can be downloaded from the RACGP’s website and is accompanied by a Collaborative Care information form.

 

Tags: Liz Marles, multi-disciplinary care, racgp, resources,

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