HealthOne Mt Druitt
The Mt Druitt location and community
Mt Druitt and its surrounding suburbs (within the 2770 postcode) have a combined population of approximately 100,000, covering a large portion of the Blacktown Local Government Area. The HealthOne Mt Druitt service catchment area includes Bidwill, Blackett, Dharruk, Emerton, Hebersham, Lethbridge Park, Minchinbury, Mt Druitt, Shalvey, Tregear, Whalan and Willmot.
Mt Druitt was selected for the establishment of HealthOne NSW service as it has entrenched socio-economic disadvantage and associated health needs:
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Weekly income for 38% of the population is below the poverty line,
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Lower education levels and higher crime levels (especially juvenile crime) than Sydney,
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Public housing rates of 45-50%, compared to the Sydney average of 5.7%, and
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A reported incidence of domestic violence 28% higher than the next Area Health Service, as well as high levels of child protection notifications to social services.
Blacktown LGA is also culturally diverse, with large Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and overseas-born communities:
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8.2% of Blacktown LGA residents are born overseas, which is a high proportion of the 35.5% across Sydney West Area Health Service (SWAHS) and compared to 24% in NSW.
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60% of the refugees arriving in NSW each year settle in the boundaries of SWAHS, with Blacktown LGA and Auburn receiving the highest proportion.
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The majority of SWAHS Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population (1.5% of the total SWAHS population) lives in Blacktown LGA. 59% of this population is under the age of 24, compared to 37% in the non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population.
The service and target population groups
HealthOne Mt Druitt seeks to increase the capacity of the primary health and community care sector by providing equitable, accessible and comprehensive care by integrating general practice and state government funded community health services, and engaging non government and private care/service providers with a focus on people with chronic and complex conditions, children and young families at risk, and disadvantaged local communities.
HealthOne Mt Druitt is located in a purpose-built extension to the Mt Druitt Community Health Centre. The integration of services is achieved by the collaboration of GPs, Community Health and other service providers. HealthOne Mt Druitt facilitates communication between the service providers, supports care planning and coordination, facilitates access to required services and aims to reduce unnecessary hospital admissions.
Two GP Liaison Nurses are employed by Community Health: one for Chronic, Aged and Complex Care and one for Child and Family. They are the linchpins of the HealthOne model, identifying clients requiring care coordination and linking GPs, Community Health and other service providers to improve client health outcomes.
Specific joint clinics and services are also provided from the HealthOne Mt Druitt Hub, as follows:
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Wound Clinic
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Child and Family Health Clinic
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Antenatal Clinic
Outreach clinics are also provided at identified isolated locations which do not have ready access to GPs and other health service providers. These service locations operate as the ‘spokes’ from the HealthOne Mt Druitt hub. HealthOne Willmot, located on the periphery of Mt Druitt, opened on 20 May 2009 as an outreach site providing a shopfront service. The Willmot site was established after extensive community and stakeholder consultation. Based on the requirements identified through the needs assessment, the Willmot service is currently being provided for 2 part-days per week, providing an information and referral service, and:
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Child and Family Health Clinic
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Women’s Health Clinic, and
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Mature Age Person’s Clinic
Additional clinics have been planned for future implementation to meet the identified needs of other isolated communities across the Mt Druitt area, including.
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Clients with complex health needs, chronic illness or who are frail, aged and live at home.
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Families with children where there are vulnerabilities/risk factors and a need for additional support.
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Young people with health care needs, including mental health.
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People in the Mt Druitt community who have difficulty accessing services due to disadvantage or isolation.
Project partners
The HealthOne Mt Druitt partners include:
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Mt Druitt Medical Practitioners Association
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Blacktown Medical Practitioners Association
Resources
Key contact
