Minister for Health and Wellbeing Stephen Wade said residents within the Gawler Health Service catchment area, including Mallala, Two Wells and Freeling, are now able to receive hospital care in the comfort of their own home.

“The Marshall Liberal Government is actively reducing pressure on our Emergency Departments (EDs) and hospitals through innovative programs like My Home Hospital which are delivering health care closer to home and are already showing positive results,” said Minister Wade.

“Since commencing in January, the My Home Hospital service has treated more than 580 patients ranging from 17 to 100 years old, diverting those people away from our metropolitan hospitals while still providing the hospital level care they need.

“20 percent of My Home Hospital patients have received their care in a residential aged care facility, with the most common conditions receiving hospital-level treatment at home being cellulitis, followed by kidney and urinary tract infections, and pneumonia.

“Expanding services to the outer north and to patients with a wider range of health conditions, will enable more patients to have the option to receive treatment at home when safe and appropriate.

Under the expansion, the My Home Hospital service is broadening its scope to provide at-home health care for people requiring specific post-operative care, as well as those with pulmonary embolism, chronic heart failure and infections requiring intravenous antibiotics such as mastitis.

“My Home Hospital is a service provided by Wellbeing SA, delivered by a joint venture between Calvary and Medibank. The expansion of the service is being made possible by the recruitment and training of additional clinical staff by the joint venture.”

Wellbeing SA Acting Chief Executive, Jeanette Walters, said the expansion into Gawler was made possible through close collaboration with Gawler Health Service, Barossa Hills Fleurieu Local Health Network (BHFLHN), local General Practices and the Calvary Medibank joint venture.

“The BHFLHN has been involved in the design and development of My Home Hospital from the very beginning, with plans to further expand into Mount Barker and the Southern Fleurieu following the commencement in Gawler,” Ms Walters said.

“There is significant research that highlights the potential benefits of hospital-in-the-home services, and expanding the service to new conditions was done through an extensive review of services interstate and overseas and further refined through extensive clinician and community engagement.”

My Home Hospital’s General Manager Kelly Fraser said the My Home Hospital care team is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

“We are delighted to expand the My Home Hospital service delivery to include more suburbs and increase the range of conditions we can treat,” Ms Fraser said.

“Each patient has a personalised care treatment plan to support the hospital-level care they receive in the comfort and privacy of their own home.

“The My Home Hospital remote monitoring technology enables our medical team to stay in touch with patients at any time, and to track their observations such as pulse, temperature and blood pressure in real time.”