eNews Autumn 2023

We’re almost ready for EnableNSW Online go live!

The final stages of system development and user testing are underway before EnableNSW Online goes live in June 2023 for NSW Health clinicians.

Due to user authentication and privacy challenges, clinicians who work in private clinical settings will continue to submit their requests using the paper-based equipment request forms (ERF).

‘While this is not the outcome we had wanted for clinicians who work privately, the privacy of all clinicians and their patients is of critical importance, especially in today’s cyber environment,’ said Tara Williams, Senior Project Manager for EnableNSW Online.

‘Until we have a suitable solution that will safely verify the identity of all external users, we cannot grant access to the system to any person outside the NSW Health network’.

Work is continuing in this area and all eligible EnableNSW clinicians will be provided with timely updates.

Change is coming

Over the next few months clinicians can expect change in many areas including the launch of EnableNSW Online, updated ERFs, the closure of the EnableNSW Equipment Centre online catalogue and a change to the way standard stock equipment is requested. The EnableNSW website will remain the central hub for all changes and clinicians are asked to visit the website regularly to keep up with all the changes.

The EnableNSW team will continue to provide an exceptional level of customer support to clinicians during this period of change.

New Equipment Request Forms coming soon

The development of EnableNSW Online presented opportunities to streamline processes and make meaningful changes for both clinicians and the EnableNSW team. One of these changes was the revision of all Equipment Request Forms (ERFs), a project that has been years in the making, and will soon be available to all eligible EnableNSW clinicians.

‘We have been listening to the feedback of our clinicians, staff and technical working groups over the years, and what we now know is that our ERFs should be streamlined, less text boxes, more tick boxes and closely aligned to the relevant funding criteria,’ said Louise Mather-Mullard, Manager of Clinical Services, EnableNSW.

‘With these changes to our current ERFs, we are hoping to see less requests going on hold and a higher volume of requests being approved first-time round. This should have a positive impact on timely patient outcomes.’

Over the coming months, clinicians will begin to receive emails about new ERFs in the areas they prescribe in. Clinicians will be asked to remove any copies of previous ERFs they have saved locally and begin using the new editable forms.

A new way of requesting self-care and mobility equipment

For clinicians who work privately and who need to request self-care and mobility equipment (including standard stock, contract or purchase), individual ERFs will soon replace the existing Stock Equipment Request Form (SERF) and the usual equipment request form. This means that for every self-care and mobility category, clinicians will need to complete the relevant ERF.

More information about these changes will be available soon. In the meantime, clinicians are encouraged to visit the EnableNSW website regularly for the latest updates and read all emails sent from the team.

EnableNSW online equipment catalogue permanently closing soon

The current equipment catalogue will permanently close when EnableNSW Online goes live in June 2023.

Clinicians who work privately with patients will have a new way of applying for standard stock equipment, including new editable PDF forms and a new read-only equipment catalogue.

‘The development of EnableNSW Online provided us a unique opportunity to evaluate the way standard stock equipment is requested through the Equipment Allocation Program (EAP). Given the verification and privacy challenges we have had, and our inability to allow private clinicians to use the system in the first phase, we had to think creatively about how we can ensure the same clinical information is being channeled to our team, no matter if submitted online or via a paper form,’ said Louise Mather-Mullard, Manager of Clinical Services, EnableNSW.

This evaluation also meant the team can now make standard stock available to all clinicians statewide, no matter where their patients live.

‘We know that 80% of requests for self-care and mobility items can be met through the standard stock range available through the EAP. Therefore, expanding access to the EAP for our rural and regional clinicians is a fair and equitable next step for the program. We are hopeful the time they save on trialling equipment can be redirected back to critical patient care,’ added Louise.

Detailed communication about this change will be provided over the coming months.

Secure your spot for one of our upcoming prescriber educations sessions!

Eligible EnableNSW clinicians are invited to review the updated prescriber education schedule for 2023 and secure a spot for a session that relates to their area of expertise. The focus in the months of May and June will be on self-care and transfer equipment, prescription success, and bariatric equipment prescription.

The prescription success session on 25 May 2023 will provide information on how to successfully apply for funding of self-care and mobility equipment through EnableNSW, including the Equipment Allocation Program (EAP). It will introduce clinicians to the upcoming changes with the pending launch of EnableNSW Online and the new Equipment Request Forms (ERFs) for each equipment category, including replacement of the standard Stock Equipment Request Form (SERF) with individual ERFs.

The Home Respiratory Program (HRP) and Home Enteral Nutrition (HEN) programs have been added to the education schedule and recently completed their first round of sessions, with positive feedback from all who attended.

Clinicians affiliated with respiratory medicine, sleep medicine and nursing and allied health departments (dietetics, physiotherapy, speech pathology) are invited to visit the EnableNSW website to register for a future session at HSNSW-EAPVisits@health.nsw.gov.au.

Following attendance to any prescriber education session, clinicians will be provided with a certificate of attendance and can attribute these hours towards their continuing professional development.

EnableNSW education roadshow coming soon!

In the second half of 2023, prescriber education will expand to include a roadshow that will focus on the new way of submitting equipment requests to EnableNSW. With the implementation of EnableNSW Online, clinicians who care for patients in a private clinical setting will follow an alternative application pathway.

Jemma Burns, Senior Clinical Advisor, EnableNSW said the team will use every possible avenue to educate clinicians to ensure they continue to have a positive experience with the service.

‘We know the changes that are coming will mean different things to different groups of clinicians, which is why we are making every effort to provide education, tools and resources to help clinicians understand the new ways of working with us. Change can be challenging, and we will make every effort to lend our support to our colleagues,’

Clinicians will learn more about the launch of EnableNSW Online, the new Equipment Request Forms (ERFs) for each equipment category, and the statewide reach and availability of the Equipment Allocation Program for standard stock equipment. Sessions will be face to face in Local Health Districts (LHDs) and via ‘Teams’. More information will be available in the coming months.

Invitation to join one of our technical Working Groups

In the second half of 2023, clinicians in the areas of beds, mattresses, seated mobility and respiratory will be invited to express their interest in joining a technical working group (TWG) to review the relevant equipment funding criteria in their area of expertise. This is a unique opportunity to collaborate with the EnableNSW clinical team and review the existing funding criterias based on clinical expertise, experience and the current evidence base.

For the suction units, electrical humidification and respiratory consumables TWG, the EnableNSW team will invite expert clinicians (e.g. medical, nursing, physiotherapy and speech pathology) working in the areas of respiratory/sleep medicine, spinal cord injury, ENT, head and neck, ICU and community care with complex needs to join their TWG.

Clinicians will receive more communication about this opportunity later in the year.

Encouraging feedback from the Equipment Loan Pool project pilot

Over the last six months, the EnableNSW team has worked closely with Central Coast and South Eastern Sydney Local Health District (LHD) to trial an internal EnableNSW IT system, GMAT (Get My Assistive Technology), for the provision of loaning equipment to patients on a short term basis. The pilot successfully showed how one ICT system could be used by multiple hospital sites across NSW to track the lifecycle of loan equipment, from leaving the hospital grounds to the return process and being refurbished for re-use.

The pilot was crucial in demonstrating the benefits of GMAT, including:

• accessible dashboard information for LHD administrators and managers
• improved quality assurance, including electronic record keeping of cleaning and maintenance
• reduced need for paper-based patient and equipment management records
• data to support long term sustainability of ELPs e.g. data for strategic procurement
• complete visibility of equipment loans.

‘The pilot yielded some incredible results and feedback from our LHD partners. This opportunity allowed us to see how hard the hospital Equipment Loan Pool (ELP) service works to support patient discharge with the right equipment to care for themselves at home,’ said Greg Foreman, Senior Project Officer, ELP project.

‘I want to thank our partners for their time, dedication and the invaluable feedback they provided. This collaborative effort is what is helping to drive positive change across the NSW Health network.’

Initial results have shown that with further improvements, the internal EnableNSW IT system, is a suitable platform to support the administrative effort required to loan and track equipment.

The team are now preparing a submission to request funding for a third pilot site to test a ‘hub and spoke’ model.

For more information about this pilot, please contact Greg Foreman at Greg.Foreman@health.nsw.gov.au