BRAESIDE HOSPITAL – ACCESS AND EQUITY PROJECT

Braeside Hospital, which is part of Hope Healthcare, provides a specialised service in the core areas of:

• Rehabilitation - this unit facilitates recovery, following loss of function or ability, whereby the overall goal is to enable people to live as full independent life as possible.
• Palliative Care - this unit provides a comprehensive service for those diagnosed with a life threatening illness where relief from symptoms or pain management may be required.
• Aged Care Psychiatry - this service offers a comprehensive inpatient and outpatient program to patients with mental health problems including dementia, with severe behavioural disturbances or other mental health problems.

Referral Information:

• Rehabilitation                         9616 8638
• Palliative Care                       9616 8649
• Aged Care Psychiatry           9616 8600

In order to identify the level of access to services at Braeside Hospital for people from a Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) background, a partnership was developed with Fairfield Multicultural Health Service in order to facilitate an access and equity project. The project aimed to determine the level of accessibility and develop a detailed plan of action to improve access and health outcomes for CALD patients/clients who utilise services provided by Braeside Hospital.

This project was implemented in three stages:

• Establish a baseline of an initiatives undertaken to provide services for CALD communities.
• Assess the cultural competency of hospital staff
• Identify gaps in service by Face to face inpatient interviews.

The detailed report, with recommendations, will be finalised by late October.

However, in the interim for any further information please contact Hanadi Nemra, Multicultural Health Project Officer at Cabramatta Community Health Centre on 8717 4000.