What is known about the topic? Patients from residential aged care facilities (RACFs) presenting to emergency departments (EDs) are a vulnerable population with higher rates of complex medical morbidity, frailty, and cognitive impairment. There are increased rates of presentation, repeat visits and increased hospital- acquired complications, morbidity, and mortality in this population. There are many suggestions for improving primary care delivered in RACFs. What does this paper add? State-wide linkage of data to examine patterns of ED presentations from RACFs and associated 30-day mortality. Injuries and chest infections were the most common presentations. Both 30-day mortality and re-admission rates were high for patients from RACFs. Predictors of increased mortality included prolonged length of stay in the ED and re-admission within 30 days. What are the implications for practitioners? Provides evidence for increasing access to clinical care in RACFs and improving coordination of care to more effectively manage acute illness and injury. Timely advanced care planning and discussion of goals of care is an opportunity to prevent avoidable presentations to the ED. More research into falls management and managing respiratory infections in RACFs is required to facilitate better community-based care for this population.

What is known about the topic? Risk factors for re-admission to hospital are well documented for older patients following an acute admission. No studies have investigated re-admission risk for patients post discharge from a Geriatric Evaluation and Management Unit. Risks should be understood so that interventions can be targeted and resources allocated. What does this paper add? Risk factors for re-admission within 30 days are identified. What are the implications for practitioners? The inclusion of the Clinical Frailty Scale and Charlson Comorbidity Index is supported. These measures can inform future discharge planning practices to decrease the likelihood of re-admission within 30 days.

What is known about the topic? People living in residential aged care facilities report very high rates of mental health conditions, including depression and anxiety. What does this paper add? We demonstrate very low use (<3%) of Government-funded mental health services among people living in residential aged care facilities in Australia, with only small increases in use over time. What are the implications for practitioners? Practitioners should routinely assess the mental health needs of people living in residential aged care and refer for in-reach mental health services where needed, noting that facility staff are usually not trained for this role.

What is known about the topic? Advance care planning (ACP) for end-of-life care benefits patients, their families and the healthcare system, but programs for enhancing ACP uptake and effects at a whole-of-community level are lacking. What does this paper add? We describe a statewide program for promoting ACP within hospitals, general practice and residential aged care. Key components were creating a central office of ACP, establishing digital infrastructure for making advance care plans accessible to a wide clinician audience, providing education in ACP, and training ACP facilitators. What are the implications for practitioners? Increasing ACP uptake requires a systematised approach to promoting ACP within all sectors of healthcare and the general public.

What is known about the topic? There are limited data on the economic burden of primary liver cancer in Australia. What does this paper add? This study showed the cost in the second year after cancer diagnosis was substantially lower than that of the first year. Higher costs per episode of care were mostly associated with older age, metropolitan hospitals, and Asian birth region. What are the implications for practitioners? Results from this study can be used as a baseline for comparison with other initiatives to mitigate cancer risk factors or inputs for future economic evaluations of cancer surveillance.

What is known about the topic? Infections contribute an important source of paediatric hospital admissions, but the population burden of these infections and nature of associated hospitalisations are not well understood. What does this paper add? Ten infectious conditions contributed to almost 10% of all paediatric hospitalisations, and costs were increased with additional bed-days, paediatric hospital admission, and intensive care use. What are the implications for practitioners? This information should be used to prioritise areas of care for hospitalised children, with potential for benchmarking and focusing resources within areas of need.

What is known about the topic? Continuous quality improvement strategies (CQI) have been widely used in primary health care to successfully manage chronic disease. What does this paper add? This paper highlights the scarcity of evidence around CQI initiatives in Aboriginal oral health care and identifies CQI tools such as plan–do–study–act cycles, causal mapping, driver diagrams and prioritisation matrices that can be translated to improve oral health outcomes among Aboriginal communities. What are the implications for practitioners? This paper presents a variety of CQI strategies and foundational elements required for practitioners to adopt in clinical practice.

What is known about the topic? Research has identified common factors for patient satisfaction or dissatisfaction with dental clinics including: facilities and location, waiting list time, cost, gentleness during procedures, communication, and staffing. What does this paper add? This study identified causes of patient satisfaction and dissatisfaction with Victorian public dental clinics. The focus is on the Victorian public dental system because almost half of the eligible population for public dental services are not utilising them. What are the implications for practitioners? Practitioners can use this study to self-reflect and improve the quality of health service delivery.

What is known about the topic? Service statistic data capturing and reporting systems used prior to the digital medical record required additional clinician entry processes, and lacked visibility, transparency and timeliness of reporting. What does this paper add? This paper describes a case study of the use of an electronic dashboard linked to the Electronic Medical Record to capture and report service statistics. What are the implications for practitioners? A real-time service statistic dashboard can remove a significant burden of manual reporting for staff, and help improve the transparency, visibility and timeliness of data availability for staff and managers.

What is known about the topic? Health policy, practice, research and education led by consumers benefits from their experiential expertise. What does this paper add? We should be careful of settling for consumer engagement or involvement, and continue pushing for consumer leadership to realise these benefits. What are the implications for practitioners? The health sector should make space for consumer leadership across initiatives, services and systems. Our health systems should enable us to foster non-tokenistic partnerships with consumers and engage only in honest reporting about the level of involvement of consumers in research.