Team with ‘Yes First’ Approach Redefines ED Experience
Most people have visited an ED at some point because of a rolled ankle, a fall or an injury at work or home that needed imaging and treatment – the type of injury that needs quick treatment and the resources of a hospital but is going to be triaged below more serious injuries or life-threatening conditions. Patients and their families attending EDs in these circumstances anticipate waiting for treatment, potentially for hours.
Today, if you or a family member visits Rockingham ED with these sorts of concerns, you might meet someone from the Emergency Department Musculoskeletal Diversion Pathway (EDMDP) team. This team of highly skilled Advanced Scope and Senior Physiotherapists work collaboratively to identify, assess, and treat patients directly from the ED. The EDMDP team is not only reducing wait times and lengths of stay, but with patient satisfaction scores of 99% it’s also clear that ‘patients love it’. The team is saving money, reducing waiting times and freeing up thousands of hours of ED capacity.
The team are ‘pushing the limits’ of the full scope of practice for Physiotherapy. This is possible because of the ‘unwavering support’ for training, development, and mentorship to build the Advanced Scope Physiotherapy Workforce. The team described an extraordinary level of trust and collaboration to enable the co-treatment approach that is fundamental to this model of care. The team has also worked hard to collaborate with their colleagues in other professions including Medical Imaging. The EDMDP team will accept walk-ins, calls, or emails from any patient to provide support and advice along the journey. This is an example of their ‘yes first’ philosophy – they genuinely want to find a way to say ‘yes’ to helping and supporting patients and their families.
All this adds up to an excellent finalist for the Allied Health of the Year Award!
