Aged care services in Western Sydney
Our Community Acute Care Service provides mental health care in the community to people who are:
- experiencing a relapse of an existing mental health issue
- experiencing a mental health issue or episode for the first time
- experiencing a life crisis with self-harm or suicidal thoughts.
This service provides short term mental health care to stabilise an acute crisis to help avoid the need for hospital admission, and links people with other services.
The Community Assertive Response Team (ART) provides intensive services to people with severe and persistent mental illness and other complex issues that impact their ability to live in the community.
This team links patients to a variety of services as needed, including:
- psychologists
- occupational therapists
- psychiatrists
Visits to patients can be made on a weekly basis, or more frequently, depending on the needs of the person being treated. Rehabilitation support is provided to enable people to live safely and happily within the community.
ART can also implement and enforce a Community Treatment Order (a legal order made by the Mental Health Review Tribunal or by a Magistrate) if necessary.
This service provides mental health care to people aged 25-64 years with chronic and persistent mental illness and complex psychosocial needs.
We also work with people in this age group who have been diagnosed with a mental illness and are under a legal order, such as a CTO (community treatment order), Forensic order, or Section 32 of the Mental Health (Forensic Provisions) Act 1990. We take a person-centred approach by working collaboratively with the patients, carers, and other service providers to provide holistic care.
We empower patients to plan their recovery journey and link them with appropriate services to achieve their physical, occupational, social, and spiritual health goals.
We provide assessment, intervention, and care coordination services to people aged 65 years and over or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples aged 50 years and over who have developed (or are at risk of developing) a mental health condition. We also provide services for people with severe and persistent behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD).
Our aim is to optimise the wellbeing, quality of life, and functioning of older people with mental health issues or BPSD so that they can continue to live as independently as possible, for as long as possible, in the setting of their choice.
A community-based team helps homeless people with mental illness in the Parramatta, Cumberland, Blacktown and Hills Shire Local Government Areas.
The team includes:
- social workers
- psychologists
- occupational therapists
- nurses
- doctors
- peer support workers
This specialist team includes interpreters for people from diverse backgrounds and the service is free.
Other aged care services
Our Public Health Unit (PHU) provides support and advice to residential aged care facilities (RACFs) located in Western Sydney on various aspects of disease and outbreak management.
- Under the NSW Public Health Act, residential aged care facilities are legally required to notify suspected outbreaks of respiratory or gastrointestinal illness to their local PHU.
- Residential aged care facilities should contact the PHU as soon as possible if they suspect an outbreak:
- An acute respiratory illness (ARI) outbreak is defined as two or more cases of COVID-19, influenza or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) during a 72-hour period.
- A gastrointestinal illness outbreak is defined as two or more people with sudden onset of diarrhoea or vomiting at any one time.
Who we see
Our team provides services to aged care, acute stroke and rehabilitation inpatients at Blacktown and Mount Druitt Hospitals.
Wards serviced
Blacktown Hospital
- Aged care and secure unit (C51)
- Stroke, aged care and rehabilitation ward (C52)
- Aged care (C53)
Mount Druitt Hospital
- Rehabilitation Unit (Ward 1C)
Service overview
We encourage and support aged care, acute stroke and acute rehabilitation patients to participate in individual and group gym based exercise programs that have been planned by our physiotherapists.
These exercise programs aim to help our patients achieve their rehabilitation goals in relation to walking and other daily activities, thereby improving quality of life outcomes.
Our therapy programs are individually prescribed and will depend on the patients condition, cooperation, and tolerance.
Our team
Our Blacktown Hospital team consists of 4 Physiotherapists and 2 Allied Health Assistants.
Our Mount Druitt Hospital team consists of 4 Physiotherapists and 4 Allied Health Assistants.
Refer your patient
We see patients from these wards by internal referral only.
We also provide services for Older People's Mental Health.
Geriatric care services at Westmead Hospital
Our geriatric (elderly) medicine service is offered at Westmead Hospital and has a long history of providing high quality, comprehensive and compassionate multi-disciplinary care. In this section, you can learn more about the services we offer.
How to access our clinics
Speak with your GP (doctor) or specialist and ask them to send us a referral by email to WSLHD-Westmead-Geriatrics@health.nsw.gov.au or by fax to (02) 9687 1429.
For more information call the Westmead Geriatric Clinics team on (02) 8890 7946.
Our department supports more than 90 allocated beds in areas including:
- acute and stroke care
- geriatric rehabilitation
- specialist dementia care
- surgical liaison services.
We also have a major outpatient wing that includes:
- geriatric medicine units
- support for elder patients at home with our RACE (Rapid Access Care and Evaluation) program
- support for nursing home residents with our GREAT (Geriatric Rapid Evaluation, Assessment and Treatment) program
- our new AGES (Access to Geriatric Expertise Service) program.
Our geriatric care team include:
- Twelve specialist geriatricians
- Six advanced trainees
- more than 12 junior doctors.
All our inpatient services are for patients aged above 75 years. Learn more about each of the services we offer.
| Service | Service description |
|---|---|
| Acute care | For patients with acute (critical) medical issues and background health conditions. We provide:
|
| Stroke care | For patients who have suffered from a stroke or a mini stroke or TIA (Transient Ischemic Attack). Or focus is on putting patients on a streamlined pathway towards recovery and rehabilitation. We provide care in a stroke unit including:
|
| Geriatric care | Led by our aged care trained physiotherapists and occupational therapists, this service is for patients recovering from an acute (critical illness). We offer goal-focused and individually designed programs to accelerate (speed up) mobilisation and functional retraining. We also provide:
|
| Orthogeriatrics / Surgical liaison | Orthogeriatrics refers to the care of older orthopaedic patients with a focus on bone health and falls prevention. We are involved in the care of surgical patients to make sure they:
|
Our outpatient clinics are located in the Geriatric Medicine Department on Level 4 of the C and D Blocks and the University clinics on Level 2 in Westmead Hospital.
We provide:
- cognitive assessments
- comprehensive geriatric assessments
- falls assessments
- neurovascular clinics
- tilt table testing
- specialist dementia care.
Our outreach services are designed for inpatients being discharged from our services to smoothly transition (move) back into the community and, where possible, avoid future hospital admissions. Learn more about each of the outreach services we offer.
| Outreach Service | Service description |
|---|---|
| RACE (Rapid Access Care and Evaluation) | This service is for older patients presenting to Westmead Hospital who could be better managed in their own home environment. Our patients are supported by:
The service focuses on:
The RACE team are able to reduce the risk of hospital-related complications in older patients while managing their normal lives and schedules. |
| GREAT (Geriatric Rapid Evaluation, Assessment and Treatment) | This is a sub-acute (typically when patients are moving out from a hospital setting) outreach service. The service support aged care facilities and GPs (doctors) by providing clinical support and consultation to residents. The aim of the service is to:
|
| AGES (Access to Geriatric Expertise Service) | This program provides a model of care that supports the transition (moving) of acute geriatric patients back to their aged care facilities. Patients then continue to receive ongoing reviews by a specialist geriatrician. |
Geriatric care services at Blacktown Hospital
Geriatric medicine helps older people stay healthy and recover when they are unwell.
At Blacktown Hospital, our team looks after older patients including:
- Emergency and hospital care when someone is very sick
- Stroke care to help people recover after a stroke
- Rehabilitation to help patients get stronger and more independent
- Special care for memory or behaviour problems
- Extra care for older people who need surgery, especially for bones and joints
We also help people in the community, so they can get care without always coming to hospital. Our community teams visit patients quickly and give expert advice when needed.
Our team
Our team includes:
- Doctors who specialise in caring for older people
- Rehabilitation doctors
- General doctors
- Nurses and other health workers
We work together to make sure older patients get safe, kind, and high-quality care that focuses on what matters most to them.
Our inpatient service looks after older people (care for patients aged 70 years and older) staying in hospital. We provide different types of care depending on what the patient needs.
Acute care
This service helps older patients who become suddenly unwell and may have more than one health problem.
Our team checks patients quickly, finds out what is wrong early and starts treatment straight away. Doctors, nurses, and health workers such as physiotherapists, occupational therapists, social workers, speech therapists, and dietitians all work together to care for the patient.
Stroke care
Older patients who have a stroke or or transient ischaemic attack (TIA) are treated in a special stroke unit.
This includes fast treatment to help the brain, heart monitoring and therapy to help patients recover and get ready for rehabilitation.
Geriatric evaluation and management (GEM) unit
The GEM unit helps older patients who are getting weaker, have many health problems or need extra time to recover after being sick.
The focus is on improving health, helping patients stay active and planning safe care for the future.
Geriatric rehabilitation
This service helps patients regain strength and independence.
Patients receive exercise and movement therapy, help with daily activities and support planning for going home or to another care setting. Social workers help organise support after leaving hospital.
Orthogeriatric service
This service supports older patients with orthopaedic conditions such as bone or joint problems.
The team works to keep patients medically well, help them get moving safely and plan a smooth and safe discharge in collaboration with orthopaedic and allied health teams..
Clinics
Our outpatient clinics are held at Blacktown Hospital on the entry level of the main building. We also run falls clinics at Mount Druitt Hospital.
These clinics help older people with:
- general health check-ups for older adults
- falls assessments
- memory and thinking checks
- dementia care
- follow-up after stroke
We also offer:
- frailty exercise clinic
- supervised exercise group at Mount Druitt Hospital
These programs help older people improve their strength, movement and independence.
Outreach services
Outreach services help older people get care in the community, without always needing to go to hospital.
CARE (Community Acute Rapid Evaluation)
The CARE (Community Acute Rapid Evaluation) service provides fast health checks for older people who can be safely treated at home. Doctors, nurses, and health workers work together to assess health needs early and organise the right support to help avoid hospital stays.
ASET and ACFOR CNC services
The ASET and ACFOR CNC services help older patients by organising care and making sure everyone involved in their treatment is working together. This support is provided in hospital, the community, and residential aged care facilities.
AGES (Access to Geriatric Expertise Service)
The AGES (Access to Geriatric Expertise Service) helps older people return safely to residential aged care after a hospital stay. Specialist doctors continue to review patients to keep them well and reduce the chance of returning to hospital.
Stroke outreach service
We also provide a stroke outreach service, where a rehabilitation doctor and therapy team visit patients in the community. This service helps with recovery, movement, and independence after a stroke.
Patients are referred to our inpatient geriatric medicine service through the emergency department or by other hospital medical teams.
Our outreach services mainly support patients as they move from hospital care back into the community. The focus is on helping patients leave hospital safely, making sure their care continues, and reducing the chance of needing to return to hospital.
For more information or general questions, please contact Geriatric Medicine at Blacktown Hospital on 02 8670 5463.
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