Authors: St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney
Year: 2012
Event: 2012 TheMHS Awards
Subject:
Type of resource: TheMHS Awards
Award state: NSW
Award level: Gold
Award category: Primary Care / GP Focus
Abstract: The H2M service provides mental health assessment and treatment to HIV/HCV positive clients of general practitioners within inner city Sydney, the epicentre of the HIV/ HCV epidemic in Australia. Since the development of anti-retrovirals and other effective treatments the life-span of people living with HIV and HCV has increased creating a shift in the focus from a palliative to a chronic care approach. This multi-disciplinary service integrates knowledge of HIV/HCV, Mental Health, AOD, Sexual Health and health promotion to impact on a client’s mental and physical health in a manner that improves access to care directly for the consumer but also indirectly improves mental health care within primary care by way of opportunistic education at regular case conferences. This service is unique in Australia and sees the piloting of “micro-teams” specifically focussed on blood borne viruses though easily adaptable to other chronic health conditions. Description of Facility/Organisation: Located within St Vincent’s, Sydney, H2M has no geographical boundaries with the prescriber status and location of the GP of importance. The GP must be an S100 prescriber to qualify as a referrer. This assists with maintaining S100 prescribers in the community by reducing isolation, preventing burnout, and improving psychotropic prescribing skills. In the H2M model the GP retains the central responsibility to oversee all related healthcare with supplemental care and advice proffered as needed. The service is funded via the HIV & Related Programs within NSW and is staffed by one Clinical Nurse Consultant, a Clinical Psychologist and a Psychiatrist 1 day per week. To date 1323 individuals have been referred with 65 active clients. Evidence based interventions are undertaken and outcomes are assessed using validated measures and feedback is provided to the GP via letter and case conferencing which have been ongoing for the past 9 years.
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