In this issue

To ensure that your service is receiving appropriate referrals please keep us updated with any changes to your service delivery or contact information. Keeping this information current is one of the key points of our Model Referral Process so email or call the Referral Coordination Service to keep in touch.

Should any service be receiving referrals that are not appropriate, we would ask that you are NOT closing them off with a comment to suggest that they are not appropriate or ineligible and not contacting the client. We ask that a client is always contacted or on-referred appropriately.

As a result of the new enhancements coming soon, it is important to note that you can update a referral at any time in the life of referral in the Police Referral System.

Your service might receive an update from QPS sharing with you a new contact number for a client, address listing or new information pertaining to the situation. Your service might then contact the client on the new number provided and connect with the client. This will then need to be reflected correctly in system by selecting a new Service Provider Action and then Update. By updating the referral record it shows the work that is being done by your service and updates QPRIME and the referring officer of the updated action. If you have any questions regarding this process, please don’t hesitate to speak with us at the Referral Coordination Service.

IUHI Connect Plus

Significant points of risk in a person’s journey through the health care system arise at times when care is transferred.

In response to those elements of risk, IUIH Connect Plus connects Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders to every aspect of care, at all stages of their health care journey, whether connecting with them directly, in hospital, or through community support.

The program started as IUIH Connect in 2013, but after assistance from Queensland Health it was elevated to Connect Plus in 2020, allowing the service to expand its footprint from Metro North and Metro South to include Gold Coast and West Moreton.

The support structure introduced for IUIH Connect Plus allows the client to connect with GP services, social support, legal services, medication, medical aids and equipment, and programs and services.

The service is available seven days a week from 7am and 7pm and the holistic approach to care allows clients to call one number (1800 254 354) to receive access to a wide array of services.

Working with stakeholders, the IUIH Connect Plus team connects clients and their families to IUIH Network clinics, Mums and Bubs teams, Aged Care community providers, Allied Health Services, transport, home services, and anything else they might need in their transition to or from the hospital.

The service receives a large number of referrals from hospital and health services as well as from the Queensland Police Service (QPS).

Since 2016, IUIH Connect Plus has received 4287 referrals of which nearly 50 percent have been from QPS.

When compared to the last reporting period there has been an increase in personal counselling and a slight increase in mental health support which is likely due to either the COVID-19 pandemic or improved communication between QPS and IUIH.

The largest amount of referrals are concerning a respondent in domestic and family violence, followed by the aggrieved from domestic and family violence, and equally as frequent is personal counselling for emotional and mental wellbeing.

The IUIH Connect Plus team has had positive feedback from clients and referees alike all highlighting the difference IUIH Connect Plus can make in a wide array of situations.

One client said the program made a huge difference to their lives as their son had suffered a brain injury and without the IUIH Connect Plus support they would have had to leave Brisbane while their son was recovering.

“It is documented how beneficial family is to the recovery of brain-injured patients, staff commented on his recovery and the positive influence of our presence,” the client said.

“You and your valuable staff will never know how you have changed our lives.

“It means the difference between our son remaining bedbound or walking and being an active participant in his own life.”

Chris’s corner…

September sees a couple of very important dates come up. One of those is R U OK day on the 10th September. I know I have written before about this topic, but it is pertinent now to ensure that everybody’s mental health is being considered at this time. This isn’t a day to simply ask R U OK, but to take a real interest in how your colleagues are travelling. The last 6 months has been an incredibly difficult time for a lot of people, and if we don’t look after ourselves and each other, then we can’t support those people in our communities who are in need of our support.

September also includes Child Protection Week from the 6 – 12 September. A week that brings to the surface many issues around child harm. At this time I would like to particularly thank all of those staff working in an incredibly hard sector with what truly is one of our most vulnerable sectors of our community. The importance of the work you do can never be overstated.

Perhaps it is coincidental, perhaps a wonderful irony, that these two events fall at the same time and that midway through the week highlighting a very difficult space to work in, we are being encouraged to check in and ask those 4 simple letters, R U OK?

The month then rounds off with National Police Remembrance Day on the 29th when Police across Queensland pause to pay tribute to their fallen colleagues. This is our time to remember those 147 Queensland Police officers who gave their life serving the state, as well as remembering our colleagues who are no longer with us; those men and women who faithfully served the QPS and are now truly missed. This year with COVID restrictions we won’t be able to march, but we will still take the opportunity to remember our colleagues who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Until next month, thank you for all of your work in helping to build safe, caring and connected communities, but most importantly, stay safe.

A/Senior Sergeant Chris Stafford