Transforming practice through multidisciplinary care – Latrobe Community Health Service Autism Assessment Clinic
Autism diagnosis in children can be a complex journey requiring comprehensive care tailored to a patient’s unique needs. Ideally, health professionals can collaborate across teams to ensure that care plans address the whole person – physically, emotionally, socially, and developmentally.
Not only is a multidisciplinary approach difficult for regional hospitals to implement, long waitlists and expensive appointments create barriers to care for many Gippsland families.
Gippsland Primary Health Network’s Health Needs Assessments have highlighted some of these critical gaps in services across the region, particularly for rural and culturally diverse communities. Families have reported difficulties accessing timely diagnostics and navigating complex service pathways. For some, obtaining an autism diagnosis for their child involved a daunting two-year wait.
Recognising the urgent need for a more dynamic and readily-available autism assessment service, Latrobe Regional Hospital and Latrobe Community Health Service came together in 2022 to establish the Latrobe Community Health Service Autism Assessment Clinic. Supported by funding, they developed a free, multidisciplinary service aimed at delivering accurate diagnoses and holistic, compassionate care to children in vulnerable circumstances.
The Clinic integrates expertise from speech pathology, occupational therapy, and mental health to meet each child’s unique needs. The team’s mission is to ensure every child receives the support they deserve, irrespective of financial or social barriers.
The work goes beyond providing an autism diagnosis. It’s about equipping families with the tools, knowledge, and confidence to navigate their child’s journey, for example, connecting families to early intervention services and resources like the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
This model of care is especially critical in regional areas. By addressing these disparities, the Clinic is not only improving outcomes for children but also setting a benchmark for how healthcare services can adapt and innovate to meet community needs.
Selina Northover, Manager Paediatric and Youth Hub at Latrobe Community Health Service, reflected that the Clinic has an unwavering commitment to support as many children and their families from across the region as possible, sharing, “To date over 100 children have been able to access an autism assessment who would not have been able to without our clinic.”
The Clinic recently received recognition for this vital work, taking home the Transforming Care through Multidisciplinary Care award at the 2024 Gippsland Primary Health Awards.
Reflecting on the honour, Selina noted “The recognition of our program and the hard work that the whole team have put into making this a success has been wonderful. The whole team were so excited to see the program acknowledged.
“In paediatrics I believe that we need to continue working on coordinating services so children and families can access all the services they require easily and at one place,” Selina said.
“By working collaboratively with others whether it is stakeholders or our staff we often brainstorm ways to improve moving forward and where there are gaps that need to be met.”
By prioritising a multidisciplinary and person-centred approach, the clinic is transforming care, and driving real change for families in Gippsland.
