A busy hospital team helping improve timely care, enhancing patient experience and reducing pressure on the emergency department has celebrated 12 months of service.
The Post-Operative Discharge Support Service (PODSS) provides telehealth support to post-operative patients within 30 days of discharge.
Since it commenced in March 2024, the service has managed almost 2500 presentations for issues including wound care, pain management, swelling, minor bleeding, scheduling follow-ups and obtaining medical documents.
PODSS Clinical Nurse Consultant Chelsea Presley said 60 per cent of PODSS presentations in the last year had been managed by nurses over the phone with 25 percent seen in the PODSS Rapid Access Clinic (RAC).
This was helping keep patients out of the ED and ensured they had shorter wait times for post-operative care.
“Essentially we look after patients who’ve had public surgery within our region and are having complications, problems, concerns or have questions, so PODSS becomes the first point of contact to help them navigate their recovery,” Chelsea said.
“It’s streamlining their care beyond discharge and supporting their recovery. We provide information and reassurance in regard to pain, dressings and wound care, as well as follow-up appointments and general advice.
“We are primarily a phone-based rapid access service (RAS) with a non-bookable rapid access clinic (RAC) that is available daily for urgent patient assessment and management.”
Since PODSS was implemented, the percentage of clinically avoidable ED presentations for post-operative patients who were within 30 days of surgery had more than halved, Chelsea said.
“We’ve had some wonderful feedback also including that 98 per cent of patients using PODSS reported that their concerns were addressed in a timely manner and 97 per cent reported that it had actually improved their patient experience.”
To meet demand for post-operative support care, the PODSS hours had also been extended and staff numbers increased.
Post-operative patients were visited by the PODSS nursing team prior to discharge from hospital and provided with a contact phone number for any queries or concerns about their recovery, Chelsea said.
PODSS is now piloting a trial with the Queensland Ambulance Service where the transport of patients within 30 days of surgery and clinically stable are referred to PODSS and directly managed by service thereby avoiding the emergency department.
