Extra funding needed to keep people out of hospital

Community healthcare plays a key role in helping people avoid hospital but the service providers claim they could do a lot better with more funding.
Latrobe Community Health Service has joined 23 other registered independent community health organisations in Victoria to push the state government for more money for the services then provide.
LCHS operates from nine locations in Gippsland - Warragul, Bairnsdale, Morwell, Wonthaggi, Churchill, Sale, Leongatha, Traralgon and Moe - and delivers more than 100 different services.
However, acting chief executive officer Andrina Romano said the community health services received only 0.5 per cent of Victoria's entire health budget.
The organisations want that boosted by 20 per cent, which would lift the percentage to only 0.6, and claim that in Gippsland alone the extra funding would significantly reduce avoidable hospital presentations that amount to more than 11,000 a year.
Ms Romano said heart disease, diabetes, dental conditions and asthma were among the most common conditions that could be prevented and managed by community healthcare.
The services offered by LCHS range across a wide area of health issues, from general practice, nursing, allied health, dental, counselling and psychology to gambling support, alcohol and drug treatment, National Disability Insurance Scheme coordination, aged care and carer support.
Community Health First, the banner under which the 24 organisations are campaigning for the extra government funding, said the spend per Victorian averaged $22 per year
That compared to $109 for those that receive ambulance care and $3166 for hospital care.
Ms Romano said one of LCHS' success stories in relieving pressure on hospitals had been the partnership with Latrobe Regional Health to form the Gippsland High Risk Foot Clinic that opened in November last year.
It had conducted almost 880 treatment sessions for 220 local residents and in 34 per cent of cases had healed diabetes related foot ulcers within 12 weeks.
LCHS also set up three outreach clinics at Aboriginal health organisations this year.
In addition to a greater allocation of state funding the community healthcare providers are seeking to be recognised in the National Health Agreement to receive matching federal government funding and to be cemented as the "partner of choice" for primary care and community-based health initiatives.