The Right Place is focused on supporting the people in Tasmanian communities to find the services they need, when they need them.
Primary Health Tasmania was funded by the Australian Government under the Tasmanian Health Assistance Package to develop and pilot initiatives to improve transfers of care and integration of care, within the existing service delivery system. Primary Health Tasmania’s Streamlined Care Pathways program developed Talking Points – Guidelines for Shared Transfer of Care in 2014 to provide a foundational approach to improving processes at all transfer points. It is well-documented that the consequences of poor quality transfers of care have a negative impact on consumers and add stress to the Tasmanian health system.
The Shared Transfer of Care project is working to improve transfers by promoting the principle of sharing between health and community services, service providers, communities and healthcare consumers.
This shared approach to transfers of care is linked to fewer hospital admissions, reduced length of stay and increased consumer experience satisfaction. The Huon Valley was a project site of the related Building an Integrated Model of Aged and Community Care Project in the Huon Valley.
Community consultation was a vital part of this project. A series of meetings and a round table were held in 2015 to facilitate community, service provider and consumer consultation in the Huon Valley and to identify specific local issues and potential solutions related to integrated care.
The community identified that service providers needed improved knowledge of what services are available in the local area and consumers needed easy-to-understand information and assistance at their first point of enquiry.
The Right Place initiative was one of several initiatives proposed by the community to improve integration and transfers of care for the community. Since its inception, many other communities have shown interest in bringing The Right Place to their local area. It is intended that the initiative expands to interested communities, which will be known as The Right Place communities..
The initiative was developed collaboratively with a representative group from the following organisations:
The Right Place initiative directly reflects the standards of the Guidelines for Shared Transfer of Care, which encompass the following core principles:
Guidelines for Shared Transfer of Care
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- Person and family-centred care
- Evidence-based and quality services
- Equal access to care based on need
- Adopting a strengths-based approach
- Coordinated approach with strong linkages across sectors
- Interdisciplinary approach
The Right Place aims to provide:
improved access to health and community services in the local area
improved coordination of the health and community services in the local area
improved health literacy of the community and member organisations
assurance that people are referred to the right service, in the right place at the right time.
Objectives:
improving service providers’ and community members’ knowledge of services
communication through providing direct information and support in an accessible way
building connection between services.
It is a way of working that puts people at the centre of their own care, and promotes communication, collaboration and engagement across sectors.
Governance
Guiding Principles
The Right Place principles provide the foundation for a shared vision to support the people of Tasmanian communities to access the health and community services they need in a timely and appropriate manner.
People can ask for information and assistance through any member of The Right Place.
People will have equal access to good quality information and assistance to help them make an informed choice.
Members have a responsibility to respond to the person’s needs and enable their connection to the right service.
Members will actively connect the person to the right service and communicate directly with that service when appropriate.
Members will receive information, training and resources to support their involvement in The Right Place.
A Shared Understanding
These commitments are reflected in the Memorandum of Understanding, a document that affirms the commitment of each member organisation to embrace The Right Place in a consistent and community-focussed way.
Participating organisations will commit themselves to providing feedback and suggestions on how the initiative could be improved or modified to improve community outcomes.
- While Primary Health Tasmania contributed funding and in-kind support to the initial development of The Right Place program, it does not have responsibility for its ongoing funding, management or implementation.
- Primary Health Tasmania and the Australian Government will not be responsible in negligence or otherwise for any injury, loss or damage however arising from the use of or reliance on the information provided in The Right Place program.
Want to become a member of The Right Place?