Capital Health Network

Parkinson’s Nurse Program

The three-year pilot Parkinson’s Nurse Program aimed to support the delivery of integrated multidisciplinary care for people living with Parkinson’s in the ACT. The program was funded by Parkinson’s ACT and the Rotary Club of Hall, with the delivery of the program contracted to CHN. Commencing in July 2018, the program delivered of a range of services and activities, including a phone clinic, home visits and service mapping for clinicians which resulted in a specific Parkinson’s pathway developed for clinicians in HealthPathways.

For people living with Parkinson’s these services and activities provided support and advice on an individual basis, education and support in navigating the existing service options. The program established networks with relevant care providers including with neurology specialists, allied health providers, the Canberra Hospital and Calvary Health Care. The program tapped into other Parkinson’s Nurse programs operating both in other Australian jurisdictions and internationally to establish best practice protocols.

However, the program’s model had some limitations. The solo-practitioner model situated in a primary health context created a model dependent on the successful training and ongoing employment of a single Parkinson’s Nurse. As there are very few specialised Parkinson’s Nurses available to recruit in Australia, the program required CHN to employ an experienced nurse and provide for a significant period of training and education due to the complexity and degenerative nature of Parkinson’s disease. The ongoing delivery of the program was then dependant on the ongoing employment of the individual nurse.

Further, the Parkinson’s Nurse position situated outside the public health system faced significant limitations in the ability to coordinate patient care through the required multi-disciplinary team approach. It would also not have the same ability to advocate and influence improvements in care for patients with Parkinson’s in the hospital system.

The program partners are all committed to improving the health outcomes for Canberrans’ living with Parkinson’s and would like to thank those involved in the development and implementation of the program. We look forward to engaging with existing and new stakeholders in the future to implement an approach that can support a Parkinson’s Nurse program to operate at its optimal potential.