Collaborating for Excellence in Health Care for First Nations Australians

This group presentation will provide a snapshot of how Metro North Hospital and Health Service is supporting the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in their care, as well as supporting staff to provide more culturally appropriate care.

This includes:

• The Better Together Medication Access service which provides prescribed discharge medication to self-identifying Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people discharging from Metro North Health facilities at no cost to the patient, aiming to improve discharge medication access and therefore adherence, resulting in improved health outcomes.
• The Transforming Emergency Departments to Cultural Safety (TECS) project which is working to improve engagement with emergency and trauma care by creating a more culturally safe and welcoming environment for Indigenous people, particularly those who present with suicidal ideation or an acute mental health crisis.
• Incorporating a First Nations Senior Health Worker into the multidisciplinary team at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital emergency department (ED), providing direct and immediate, culturally sensitive, clinical support to First Nations ED patients, and to role model culturally sensitive behaviours for ED clinicians.