BIRPs in NSW
NSW has seven NSW Brain Injury Rehabilitation Programs (BIRPs) located in Sydney and Newcastle metropolitan areas with eight BIRPs in key regional centres (Figure 1).
The 15 BIRPs are located in specific LHDs and operate for defined areas of NSW and the relevant to the type of program being provided. Table 16 provides a summary of BIRP services, the LHD in which they are located and the programs being provided. LHDs provide governance and financial management for the BIRPs located in their district and do not separately report on program outcomes to the Ministry.
The three adult inpatient services and the three paediatric in-reach services cover about a third of the state each. Table 1 provides the Greater Sydney and NSW catchment areas of the metropolitan adult inpatient and paediatric in-reach BIRP services. Access to BIRP services and intensity of intervention can be limited by distance and travel time in some areas of NSW, particularly for rural and remote locations.
Some clients will transition from paediatric to adult services upon completion of secondary education, when moving towards improving independence or introducing vocational goals.
The services network includes:
- adult inpatient
- Transitional Living Program
- adult community team
- adult case management
- paediatric in-reach to acute
- paediatric day program
- paediatric community team
- paediatric case management.
Paediatricians and general practitioners
To strengthen coordinated care close to home it is important to ensure that every child engaged with paediatric BIRP is also linked with a GP as early as possible. Consistent engagement between the GP and paediatric BIRP supports local strategies for holding care close to home.
Children's Healthcare Network
The Children's Healthcare Network (CHN) supports paediatric clinicians to provide high-quality healthcare across NSW. The vision and goal of CHN is that all children, regardless of where they live, will have access to high-quality healthcare, as close to home as possible.
CHN is divided into three regions, Northern, Western and Southern. Each region has a convenor and a coordinator. They are supported by the CHN Paediatric Clinical Nurse Consultants, who are employed by local health districts. The CHN Paediatric Clinical Nurse Consultants provide clinical expertise, support and education to health professionals employed within their districts.
Each region also has:
- an allied health educator who provides educational support for NSW Health allied health professionals (including physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech therapists) employed within their districts
- a medical lead who provides medical expertise and leadership for the region.
Each CHN works in partnership with the paediatric hospital and LHDs in their region. Paediatric BIRP clinicians need to identify and connect with relevant local key contacts within each CHN to assist with the information regarding local services to support transfer of care to, and establishing partnerships with, local services.
Regional paediatrics NSW
RPNSW (Regional Paediatrics NSW) is a peer-support network for regional clinicians. RPNSW represents doctors, nurses and allied health professionals engaged in delivering paediatric services across regional and rural NSW. RPNSW is passionate about delivering high quality effective healthcare to kids in the bush. RPNSW is aligned with MP4 a group representing Level 4 paediatric services in the metro area, outside the three Children’s Hospitals and have the support of NSW Health.
Measuring outcomes
This document provides clinicians with a history and overview of outcome measurement in the NSW Brain Injury Rehabilitation Programs (BIRPs).
Measuring outcomes in brain injury rehabilitation programs in NSW
Summary of BIRP services
Name | LHD | Adult inpatient | Transitional Living Program | Adult community | Adult case management | Paediatric in-reach to acute | Paediatric community | Paediatric day hospital | Paediatric case management |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
HNE Kids Rehab PBIRT | Hunter New England | Available | Available | Available | |||||
Hunter BI Service | Available | Available | Available[1] | ||||||
New England BIRS | Available | Available | Available | Available | |||||
Illawarra BIS | Illawarra Shoalhaven | Available | Available | Available | |||||
Mid North Coast BIRS | Mid North Coast | Available | Available | Available | |||||
South West BIRS | Murrumbidgee | Available | Available | Available | Available | ||||
Northern BIRS | Northern NSW | Available | Available | ||||||
BIRS Royal Rehab | Northern Sydney | Available | Available | Available | Available | ||||
Southern Area BIS | Southern NSW | Available | Available | Available | Available | ||||
Liverpool BIRU | South Western Sydney | Available | Available | Available | Available | ||||
BIRP, Rehab2Kids | Sydney Children’s Hospital Network | Available | Available | Available | Available | ||||
BIRS, Kids Rehab, | Available | Available | Available | ||||||
Dubbo BIRP | Western NSW | Available | Available | ||||||
Mid-Western BIRP | Available | Available | Available | Available | |||||
Westmead BIRS | Western Sydney | Available | Available | Available |
[1] HBIS provides adult case management to all clients receiving multidisciplinary specialist rehabilitation services. Ongoing case management post discharge from active rehabilitation is provided only to icare and Lifetime Care Scheme participants for 12-18 months.
BIRP adult inpatient service | Greater Sydney catchment | NSW catchment |
---|---|---|
Liverpool BIRU | SWSLHD, southern sector SLHD and SESLHD | Illawarra Shoalhaven LHD, Murrumbidgee LHD, Southern LHD plus the ACT |
Royal Rehab BIRS | NSLHD; CCLHD, northern sector SLHD and SESLHD | Hunter New England LHD, Mid North Coast and Northern LHDs |
Westmead BIRS | SWLHD, Nepean Blue Mountains LHD | Western NSW LHD, Far West LHD |
BIRP paediatric in-reach services* | Greater Sydney catchment | NSW catchment |
---|---|---|
PBIRT HNE Kids Rehab JHH Newcastle | CCLHD | Hunter New England LHD, Mid North Coast and Northern LHDs |
BIRP, Rehab2Kids Sydney Children’s Hospital Randwick | SWSLHD, SLHD, NSLHD and SESLHD | Illawarra Shoalhaven LHD, Murrumbidgee LHD, Southern LHD |
BIRS, Kids Rehab, The Children’s Hospital Westmead | SWLHD, Nepean Blue Mountains LHD | Western NSW LHD, Far West LHD |
Services by region
Hunter New England
Newcastle adults: 02 4924 5600
Tamworth: 02 6767 8350
Illawarra Shoalhaven
Nowra: 02 4223 8470
Port Kembla: 02 4223 8470
Mid North Coast and Northern NSW
Coffs Harbour: 02 6659 2300
Port Macquarie: 02 5525 0585
Ballina: 02 6620 6361
South Western and Southern NSW
Albury and Wagga Wagga: 02 6041 9902
Goulburn: 02 4823 7911
Sydney
Northern Sydney - Ryde: visit Royal Rehab website inpatient program and community rehab
South Western Sydney - Liverpool: visit SWSLHD website
Western Sydney - Westmead: visit WSLHD website
Sydney Children's Hospitals Network
Visit SCHN website for information on services at both Westmead and Randwick
Western NSW
Bathurst: 02 6630 5114
Dubbo: 02 6841 8559