Congratulations to our allied health team and their successful applications for the Department of Health’s Allied Health Workforce Advanced Practice Grant program.
The program supports allied health advanced practice roles to upskill and improve patient care.
The two-year funding will support services in speech pathology, physiotherapy, podiatry and paediatric rehabilitation.
Statewide Manager of Victorian Paediatric Rehabilitation Services (VPRS), Joannah Tozer, is one of the grant recipients excited about expanding her team’s work through the grant.
“This project is an extension of the work that VPRS does in our inpatient and day rehab services at Monash Children’s Hospital and the Royal Children’s Hospital. We are excited to be able to improve our reach to children with functional neurological disorders (FND) and assist the regions in developing pathways that will assist in early assessment and treatment. Kelly Thompson (Clinical Psychologist) and Amanda Apple (Physiotherapist) are our amazing clinicians that will be leading this project.”
Monash Health Speech Pathologist, Claire Stanley is also thrilled about being part of the funding program.
“This grant provides us with the opportunity to expand our Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) services for laryngology patients at Monash Health and strengthen the relationships we have between ENT and Speech Pathology. Monash ENT are the first to model this post-op review type model of care and we hope to demonstrate it’s benefits to our patients, strengthen the allied health workforce and reduce some of the waiting lists that our ENT surgeons face.”
Congratulations to the grant recipients, and the teams involved in Allied Health. You can learn about the funded projects below:
Statewide triage and assessment of children and adolescents with functional neurological disorders requiring rehabilitation (in partnership with The Royal Children’s Hospital)
Applicant: Joannah Tozer, Statewide Manager VPRS
Grant amount: $170,000
Children and adolescents with functional neurological disorders (FND) are often under-treated due to unclear care pathways and the complexity of the diagnosis, according to the National Mental Health Commission (2019). The grant will support the implementation of a novel statewide triage and assessment service for patients aged up to 18 years old who require rehabilitation services.
The new service consists of a senior clinical psychologist and senior physiotherapist in advanced practice roles, who assess referrals across Victoria and link them with treatment services in their local community. The project will also provide education, skill development, and support to allied health professionals in regional Victoria.
Advanced practice high-risk foot podiatrist (expansion of our Podiatry High-Risk Foot Model to include an orthopaedic foot and ankle pathway)
Applicant: Podiatry Department – Head of Profession Alicia James
Grant amount: $162,926
Currently, many of our high-risk foot clients with active or healed foot wounds are waiting for assessment and joint consultation with our orthopaedic colleagues. However, delayed assessment can place people at risk of further ulceration.
The Podiatry Department’s project is a role substitution model whereby an Advanced Practice High-Risk Foot Orthopaedic Podiatrist would:
- triage and assess patients referred with a high-risk foot orthopaedic pathology facilitating referral; and
- provide non-surgical intervention while waiting for surgery.
The Advanced Practice Podiatrist will follow the patient across the continuum of care, including ward service, Outpatients (High-Risk Foot Service including telehealth to rural partners) and assist with the transition to community services (including primary care).
This project will also develop a pathway for a sustainable long-term access alternative for patients potentially utilising National Weighted Activity Unit (NWAU) same-day admission funding within the Foot Procedure Unit. This project will strengthen Monash Health (NADC) High-Risk Foot Service.
Improving patient access and service efficiency for ENT clinics at Monash Health
Applicant: Claire Stanley, Speech Pathologist (Grade 4)
Grant amount: $143,449
Claire’s project is a collaboration between Speech Pathologists (SP) and ENT Consultants to eliminate service gaps, such as long wait times, for post-operative and review patients.
The grant will support the implementation of an SP-led Review Clinic as an advanced practice model of care at Monash Health Specialist Outpatient Clinics in ENT Laryngology (voice, upper airway and swallowing). The new service model will enable more new patient appointments in the ENT/SP Multidisciplinary Team Clinics, because SPs will see low-risk ‘review’ patients in the new clinic, expediting waitlist flow. ENT Consultants will oversee advanced scope training for the SPs and review recorded endoscopic images as part of new Medicare reforms.
Physiotherapy-led orthopaedic assessment clinic for neuromuscular conditions and expansion for a physiotherapy-led complex casting clinic (extension on an existing model)
Applicant: David Harding (Physiotherapist Paediatric Orthopaedics and MCH Profession Lead) and Melanie Toy-Laing (Physiotherapist, Paediatric Orthopaedics)
Grant amount: $92,000
Many children with complex neuromuscular conditions develop deformities requiring orthopaedic intervention or surgery. These deformities require a thorough neuromuscular assessment, regular monitoring and imaging to ensure appropriate timing of surgery for optimal functional outcomes. Long waitlists and limited Paediatric Orthopaedic clinic appointments significantly impact when these children are assessed or have orthopaedic intervention.
The grant will support the development of a Physiotherapist-led Orthopaedic Assessment clinic for children with neuromuscular conditions and an expansion of the serial casting clinic to see older children who require more complex casting. These extensions to existing models of service will aim to reduce waitlists, and facilitate planning and intervention before or around orthopaedic surgery to optimise surgical outcomes.
Feature Image: Claire Stanley assessing a patient.
