Post Acute Care (PAC)

NOTE:  THIS PAGE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION AND NOT YET COMPLETE.

Patients living outside the Western PAC catchment area should contact the regional PAC provider to check their eligibility as services may vary between geographic catchments depending
on waiting lists and availability of staff
(NEED TO INSERT DHS POSTOCDE LINK HERE)

PAC accepts referrals from acute, subacute and emergency departments of all Victorian public hospitals. Patients from
private hospitals are ineligible.

 

Services available under the PAC program

Examples include:

• Nursing such as wound care or medication management
• Personal Care such as showering or help with dressing
• Help with housework, shopping or cooking
• Therapies such as Physio, OT, Speech where there is a waiting list for ongoing treatment (eg: Community Based Rehab, Community Health, etc)
• Carer support for children or an older relative
• Other individualised services as required

All these services depend on the availability of existing community services and available family care so please discuss with the PAC care co-ordinator for further information.

Staffing

PAC is staffed by skilled nurses and allied health staff who have experience working in both hospitals and community services. Each PAC co-ordinator accepts referrals from specified Western Health wards or particular non-Western Health hospitals. They also accept referrals for Western Health services such as Community Based Rehab and HARP programs such as Chronic Disease, Complex Care or Psychosocial programs. PAC staff are happy to discuss individual patient situations or to provide advice or information about other services available to support patients after discharge.

Contact No.

General Admin number: Ph. 8345 0013

 

What is Post Acute Care?

The Western Post Acute Care program (PAC) provides
individually tailored packages of health and community
care services to patients who need support to recuperate
following discharge from a public hospital. The care is
provided in the patient's home or at an appropriate venue.
The PAC service period can range from 1-2 days up to 4
weeks immediately following discharge.

Regional service

The PAC program is a regional program, that is, PAC
services are provided by the PAC program covering the
geographic region in which the patient lives, not by the
hospital which discharges the patient. For example if a
patient of Sunshine Hospital is discharged to Brunswick,
the Melbourne Health PAC is responsible for the provision
of PAC services to that patient. If a patient discharged from
Echuca Hospital returns home to Werribee, Western PAC is
responsible for the provision of PAC services. DHS has
published a postcode list detailing which PAC program is responsible for the provision of care within that postcode.
(NEED TO INSERT DHS POSTCODE LINK HERE)

Referral

In order to access the PAC program, hospital staff, together
with the patient and/or carer, need to prepare a discharge
care plan and then refer to the Access Unit
(NEED TO INSERT LINK TO ACCESS UNIT PAGE) using the community services referral form (NEED TO INSERT LINK TO REFERRAL FORM HERE). 
A PAC Co-ordinator will then purchase appropriate services, monitor the patient's progress and, at the end of the PAC period, assist with the transition onto community services, where those services are available.

When referring to PAC, information regarding safety will also
be discussed to ensure the home environment is safe for a
worker to visit.

Eligibility

To qualify for the Western PAC program, patients must:

• live within the 5 municipalities of the west (Brimbank, Hobsons Bay, Maribyrnong, Melton, Wyndham)
• be medically stable and been assessed as safe to
  Discharge, and
• need short term services to assist with recuperation or transition to continuing care.