SA Health’s My Home Hospital service provides acute hospital care to people in their own homes, including residents in Residential Care Homes (RACHs).

My Home Hospital is an SA Health service delivered by Amplar Health Home Hospital and brings care to the residents in their RACHs in the form of doctors, nurses, and allied health practitioners. My Home Hospital also delivers some mobile x-rays and ultrasounds, blood tests, medication (including intravenous medications) and other support services if necessary.

The vision of My Home Hospital is for all people, and especially for older people to have the choice to receive hospital-level care at home, including their home in a RACH, avoiding unnecessary transfers to hospital and ensuring the interface between care systems is seamless and safe.

For residents of aged care homes, avoiding unnecessary transfers to a physical hospital can be particularly beneficial, particularly if the older person experiences cognitive impairment or symptoms of dementia. Receiving care within the home also potentially reduces the risk of hospital acquired infections and other complications.

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 home, including RACHs, the resident (or their Substitute Decision-Maker/ Person Responsible) 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 acute-type clinical care but not require 24-hour continuous observation and monitoring
  • and be assessed by a MyHH Medical Officer as clinically appropriate to receive care at the RACH.

Who can refer to the service?

Patients can be referred to My Home Hospital by:

  • their GP or medical specialist
  • a nurse practitioner
  • a RACH Senior Registered Nurse
  • SA Ambulance Service
  • SA Virtual Care Service
  • or from an emergency department or hospital.

Health professionals are welcome to refer patients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Please call 1800 111 644 to speak to a MyHH admitting Medical Consultant and arrange your referral or complete the referral form (PDF 290KB).

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 and responsibility for care of the patient remains with the referrer until admission is confirmed.

During the referral assessment, the My Home Hospital team may contact the referrer, RACH and resident (or their Substitute Decision-Maker/Person responsible) for additional information, if required.

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, family and carers, and the RACH Registered Nurse (RN), with more frequent medical review as required for patient safety, (including face to face medical reviews), 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 require, provided by experienced Registered Nurses, paramedics and allied health providers and
  • 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 available to senior nursing and medical staff in the Virtual Care Centre, who can then respond to any issues if required.

How My Home Hospital works with your resident and the facility

If your RACH would like additional information about the MyHH service and how the service will work together with your resident and the RACH, 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 RACHs 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 bricks and mortar hospital (if required and desired by the patient/family and decision makers)
  • 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, Disability and Ageing, Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission and the aged care sector.

More information

Further Information about the service or individual resident eligibility is available by calling 1800 111 644.