SA Health’s My Home Hospital service provides hospital-level care to people in their own home including Residential Care Facilities (RACFs). My Home Hospital is delivered by a joint venture between Calvary and Amplar Health which brings the care to the residents in their RACFs in the form of doctors, nurses, allied health practitioners, some x-rays, blood tests, medication and other support services if necessary.
The vision of My Home Hospital is for more older people to have the choice to receive hospital-level care at home or in RACFs, avoiding unnecessary transfers to hospital and ensuring the interface between care systems is seamless and safe. For residents of aged care facilities, avoiding unnecessary transfers to a physical hospital can be particularly beneficial.
Do patients have to pay?
My Home Hospital is available at no charge to eligible public patients.
Who is eligible for the service
To be eligible to receive acute hospital level care in their RACF, the resident must:
- provide consent to receive services from My Home Hospital
- reside in the Adelaide metropolitan area or the Gawler and Mount Barker regions and their surrounds, the Southern Fleurieu Peninsula towns of Goolwa, Goolwa North, Goolwa South, Goolwa Beach, Middleton, Port Elliot, McCracken, Hayborough, Victor Harbor and Encounter Bay
- require a minimum of daily clinical care but not require 24 hour observation
- be assessed as clinically appropriate to receive care at the RACF.
Who can refer to the service?
A
resident (or their Substitute Decision-Maker/Person Responsible, where
relevant) must always provide their consent for a My Home
Hospital referral.
The clinical governance of the patient remains with the referrer until admission is confirmed.
During the referral assessment, the My Home Hospital team may contact the referrer, RACF and resident and their loved ones for additional information, if required.
Health professionals are welcome to refer patients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Please call 1800 111 644 to arrange your referral or complete the referral form (PDF 290KB).
What is included in the My Home Hospital Service for residents?
My Home Hospital offers:
- personalised care plans developed in partnership with residents, loved ones, carers and the person’s usual health care team
- virtual ward rounds daily with the medical officer, the resident and, where possible, RACF Registered Nurse (RN), with more frequent medical review as required for patient safety, appropriate escalation, and clinically appropriate and efficient discharge processes
- face to face visits at least once a day and as often as the resident’s conditions requires, provided by experienced Registered Nurses, paramedics and allied health providers
- access to a My Home Hospital care coordinator, who is an experienced RN, to provide additional information or assessment as required 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by calling 1800 111 644.
In addition, My Home Hospital uses remote monitoring technology to enable the care team to stay in touch with patients at any time and to review observations such as pulse, temperature and blood pressure. Data collected via remote monitoring devices is immediately available to senior nursing and medical staff in the Virtual Care Centre, who can then respond to any issues.
How My Home Hospital works with your resident and the facility
If your RACF would like additional information about the My Home Hospital service and how the service will work together with your resident and facility, please refer to the Principles for care delivery in Residential Aged Care (PDF 3372KB).
This document provides broad principles for the delivery of the My Home Hospital service in Residential Aged Care Facilities (RACFs) for each stage in the patient journey including:
- identification and referral
- admission - care planning, first visit and provision of equipment and consumables
- care provision – medication management, communication and handover, observation and condition monitoring, safety and quality requirements, incident management
- escalation – patient deterioration, transfer to hospital
- discharge – handover of care, discharge medications, access to post-acute services.
These principles have been developed and refined following engagement with stakeholders from the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care, Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission and the aged care sector.
More information
If your resident would like further information about the service, please provide them with a copy of the patient information brochure.
Further Information about the service or individual resident eligibility is available by calling 1800 111 644.