NSW Health WSLHD Safety & Quality Account 2020-21

Integrated and community health

Telehealth to deliver Child and Family Health Services

10,464 video conferencing appointments financial year 21/22 13.2% of clinical care delivered by telehealth financial year 21/22

Providing early intervention for families and their children is essential for children’s healthy growth and development. Many health, education and community services were disrupted by COVID-19. In 2021, Child and Family Health (CFH) services re-focussed service models of care towards integrating telehealth as an option of service delivery. This highly flexible approach ensured new parents, families and their children would receive care and remain engaged in CFH services during pandemic restrictions and beyond.

A research project is underway to evaluate telehealth decision making and factors that affect telehealth success.

Supporting Complex and Priority Populations through COVID Early in the pandemic, it was identified that there were significant barriers to vulnerable communities accessing COVID-19 testing, accessing up to date information on COVID-19 testing and COVID-19 exposure sites, and information on changes to the Public Health Orders. WSLHD COVID-19 Protection Unit (CPU) bus was established in 2021 to access these communities, support rapid COVID-19 testing and community education. The CPU bus was deployed to areas of high COVID-19 transmission, in addition to multi-cultural heath workers and healthcare interpreters to undertake COVID-19 testing.

Public Health Response

Community Engagement

COVID-19 Testing/ Call Centre

inTouch COVID Community Care

ICH provided care to over 12,000

54 COVID-19 testing locations establised across WSLHD, with over 2 Million COVID-19 tests 900 ‘in home’ COVID-19 swabs/ month COVID-19 Call Centre established 7 days/ week Hotel Quarantine: 127,703 phone interpreting sessions in 87 languages

8,500 tenant COVID-19 packs via SMS text/ email Dawson Mall testing site with concierge

8,000 Case interviews 6,700 Venue Assessments 27 Residential Aged Care Facility Outbreaks 96 Disability Services assessed and supported Healthy@Home Toolkit downloaded over 140 times Over 560 Resources

Peak of 4,191 patients on 5 September 2021 Co-design and commissioning of private providers Calvary Mater and Silver Chain inTouch Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Hub established

and pharmacist for education on vaccinations

Cultural support to over 300 Aboriginal people & Families 10,000 masks handed out in Auburn Central in two days 181 CALD Community froum education sessions & 60 CALD COVID-19 Safety Champions trained

translated in 26 languages

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