Opening the Single Front Door with Elizabeth Kells

NSW Health in partnership with Healthdirect and other health services are working to create a ‘single front door’ model of healthcare to centralise access to health information and appropriate services. However, there is currently a gap in knowledge regarding clinician understanding and their expectations surrounding accessing the front door and what care pathways lie behind the door. Without this knowledge, this could potentially lead to and inadequate clinical support.

This project aims to address this knowledge gap by working with service and industry partners to map access points and the care pathways that lie behind the single front door. Mapping these care pathways will highlight the evidence-practice gap and inform the next phase of the project which aims to understand clinician, service managers and policy maker’s expectations of the single front door.

This project is highly relevant and crucial to the changing health landscape. With various virtual care models continuing to grow alongside an increasing burden on the health system, this project provides insights that may guide the successful implementation of NSW’s single front door program. Next steps in this program of work are to understand the expectations and experiences of clinicians and consumers to provide an opportunity to create change and improvement.