New Funding and New Opportunities for the Gold Coast
Updated on 19.2.2008
By the Gold Coast Division of General Practice
headspace is the National Youth Mental Health Foundation and an Australian Government initiative that seeks to address mental health issues experienced by young people. Its objectives are: improving service integration and coordination through strategies such as centralised management, co-location, a common client management system, and increasing the usage of evidence-based interventions.
The Gold Coast Consortium has successfully secured funding for three years to establish a headspace facility. The lead agency for headspace is the Drug & Alcohol Council, with support from a number of organizations including the GCDGP. The funding is not for service delivery but for community development and case co-ordination. Service delivery such as medical and psychological services will come from consortium members and be provided under a private practice model (MBS rebates funding service delivery). The target groups are young people 12 to 25 years with an emphasis on providing co-ordinated service for those with mental health and/or drug and alcohol issues. GP input into the planning stages would be valuable and once up and running, we hope that those of you with a passion for young people may be able to find a little time to do some sessional work for the ‘headspace Gold Coast’.
headspace will give GPs and other providers ready access to a range of providers in health, education, transport and housing. It would mean a GP who is caring for a young person and their family could access a range of non-medical supports such as advice on education and training, housing, transport and other health services such as specialist psychiatry, psychological services and drug and alcohol services from a single place.
HEADS UP! is another new Divisional project on behalf of the Primary Care Partnership Council. Heads Up! is funded under CHIC (Connecting Health Care in Communities) and will work in well with the headspace initiative. Heads Up! is about making a positive difference in the lives and futures of young people and their families by helping to avoid or minimise the impact of mental illness and drug and alcohol use; targeting the complex nature of the interaction between alcohol and other drug use/ misuse and mental health issues for young people. In 2008 the project will do four things:
1) Gather all the sources of information available on the subject and pull them together in a user friendly way, then get them out there!
2) Hold some youth and family forums across the Gold Coast to share information and ideas.
3) Run education & training across youth, mental health, drug and alcohol, and General Practice for information sharing, and to develop some new ways to work better together.
4) Learn from 1 + 2 + 3 and design and run some projects which will make an ongoing difference.
Clinical pathways for chronic disease
This project will run over three years to define and improve clinical and service pathways in collaboration with other primary care and health service providers. It will identify and propose better systems for the coordination and integration of different services, to provide a more streamlined and seamless patient journey.
Pathways will be developed for mental health, Type 2 Diabetes, COPD, coronary heart disease and renal disease. It will involve scoping the services provided by government, private and non government sectors, identifying existing linkages and service gaps and developing strategies to respond.
Reflecting a greater emphasis on prevention and risk factor management, it will involve mapping services providing care along the continuum from the well population, to those at risk, newly diagnosed and those whose condition is being managed. GPs and practice staff, allied health and specialists will be invited to participate in working groups along with other primary health care workers. If you are interested in participating, please contact Matt Carrodus at the Divisional Office on 5507 7777.
State Budget – Health
AMA Queensland supports the initiative of increased expenditure on health. Welcome announcements for the Gold Coast were as follows:
- $14.5 million additional funding in 2007-08 to progress the $1.23 billion Gold Coast University Hospital
- Additional medical graduates $3.6 million allocated in 2006-07 allowed the continuation of new positions created for 2006 and the establishment of an additional 43 medical intern positions in 2007
- $13.2 million to develop and expand in-patient mental health services. This is part of a commitment of $121.5 million over the next four years for the enhancement of in-patient mental health services.
- ED upgrade at Gold Coast Hospital Robina Campus ($40.1 million), and Gold Coast Hospital ($8.2 million).
Local Comment: Although the detail awaits consideration the mental health services allocation provides encouragement for The Gold Coast Medical Association and Dr Philip Morris’s initiatives in this area.
GOLD COAST HOSPITAL
Updated on 24.10.2006
The Gold Coast Health Service District has an enormous range of developments underway at the moment, both in terms of capital works and expanding services.
The most significant announcement for the District in recent times has been the government’s election commitment to build a new 750 bed Gold Coast University Hospital to be built on the Griffith University campus and be operational by the end of 2012.
Architectural planning for the University Hospital at Parklands is underway now community consultation has concluded. Preliminary project work is determining the best position on the site for the complex to be built.
Access, public transport, parking, and infrastructure needs such as electricity, water, sewerage and drainage and its impact on government and council services are all part of the process.
The government has also committed to further redeveloping the Robina Campus to create 179 new beds at a cost of $230 million. These beds are in addition to the existing 185 beds at the Campus.
Work continues on the current Robina Campus expansion which includes an intensive care unit, additional pathology services, medical records space and tutorial rooms for clinical teaching.
Recruitment timeframes in medical, nursing, allied health and other support positions are being finalised. To date 14 positions have been advertised and a total of over 400 new positions are required for the development.
The Emergency Department is due to open in August 2007.
At the Southport Campus, a new $2.2 million biplane interventional angiography machine is currently being installed.
The Gold Coast Hospital will be the first outside Brisbane to offer diagnosis and treatment of cerebral aneurysms using neurocoiling (without surgery).
The redevelopment at a cost of $935,000 will include a new operating theatre, recovery room and necessary building work to install the new state-of-the art equipment.
Up to 40 patients each year from the Gold Coast currently travel to Brisbane for treatment after suffering an aneurysm.
The service is expected to commence in early 2007.