Bill Kuluris (Psychiatric Nursing) Clinical Co-ordinator G P Mental Health Nurse Program Mental Health Network GPV MHNIP Model

Region  Barwon Region consists of people over the 9,000 square km GP Association Geelong (GPAG)  250+ GP’s  58 Practices  HEADSAPCE Barwon Region (Barwon Health AMHR)  24 ward acute bed service  4 AMH teams  Relatively young service compared to other regions within the state

The Region

New GPs

Referrals per month

Age Groups

Gender

Referrals per Surgery

Referrals per day

The developments  Extended from a successful GP Clozapine program  April 2008 Federal government allowed for partnerships to occur between State/Territory and ………  Reference group committee  Clinical pathways committee  Support of the College of MH Nurses

The guidelines  The Federal MHNIP  Our local Guidelines – GP agreement Practice responsibilities MHT access Patient consent  Credentialing  Discharge guidelines – AMHT  Mental Health Nurse Incentive Program Updates (quarterly)

The process  MH Nurse selection, credential v’s best candidate  Visit all 51 GP practices to discuss new incentive  2 day orientation for the 5 successful MH Nurses  4 AMHT  2 week introduction and orientation for each nurses  Professional develop for going credentialing and clinical support for nurses  Intake meeting  2 bulk billing session via Psychiatrist  Location  Sessions

Intake Meeting  Consisted of discussing referral  Once uptake started intake occurred twice a week. Psychiatrist only visited on the Thursday  Presenting assessment once completed and decision point thereafter, Jigsaw, Headspace, MHT, Psychologist, NGO  Case conference – set up by MH nurse

The Model  Each nurse to potentially complete 10 sessions per week  3.5 hour sessions – assessments 1.5 hours ongoing reviews 45m documentation and driving increase in demand  Intake meeting  Supervision  Ongoing credentialing

Where are we now  Looking at implementing new referral process  P/T MH Nurses to assist with leave  Employ youth specific MH Nurse  Psych registrar to become involved  Finalising case mix and case loads  Trying to slow down  Generally happy with achievements over a short period of time