Recording information on carers in the patient administration system

A carer provides unpaid, ongoing support to a family member or friend because of their disability, chronic, terminal or mental illness or because they are aging.

Many carers may not see themselves as a carer. They may not identify as a carer because they are the person's parent, sister, or friend. However, as a carer they have extra responsibilities because the person they help has a disability, or is unwell or frail.

In local health districts, changes are being made to the patient administration system to record if a patient is a carer or has a carer.

The changes to PAS and in the electronic medical record are being made across the state as part of registering a patient.

It is mandatory to ask at the time the first service is provided:

• are you a carer - do you have caring responsibilities?
• do you have a carer - someone who provides you with ongoing support?

The carer may be the person to contact for a patient.

To record in IPM PAS that the patient has a carer:

• open the amend patient details window
• select the contacts tab
• in the top left hand drop down menu, select carer
• enter the details title, surname, given names, date of birth and the relationship of the patient and their carer
• on the right-hand side click on the edit button
• enter the carers contact details
• in the address tab, enter the address and click on the accept button
• in the phone number tab, enter the phone number and click on the accept button
• In the other contact methods tab, select mobile phone from the drop down menu
• enter the mobile number and click on the accept button
• click on the ok button
• click on the accept button
• click ok to save changes.
  

To record in IPM PAS that the patient provides care to a person, the care recipient:

• open the amend patient details window
• select the contacts tab
  
• in the top left hand drop down menu select a care recipient
• enter the details title, surname, given names, date of birth and the relationship of the patient and their care recipient
• on the right hand side click on the edit button
• enter the care recipient's contact details
• in the address tab, enter the address and click on the accept button
• in the phone number tab, enter the phone number and click on the accept button
• in the other contact methods tab, select mobile phone from the drop down menu
• enter the mobile number and click on the accept button
• click on the ok button
  
• click on the accept button
• click ok to save changes.
  

To record in IPM PAS that the person to contact is also the patient's carer:

• open the amend patient details window
• in the top left-hand drop down menu, select person to contact
• check that the correct person to contact is selected
• in the patient care a drop down menu, select yes
• a window will generate to ask you to confirm that changes are being made
• click on the yes button
• to confirm, click on the accept button
• click ok to save changes.
  

To record in Cerner PAS that the patient has a carer, in the carer tab, complete the mandatory carer field, select carer. The required fields for the patient's carer are now available.

Carer information can be recorded and updated in any registration conversation.

To record in Cerner PAS that the patient provides care to a person, the care recipient, in the carer tab complete the mandatory carer field. Select 'providing care to'. The required fields for who the patient provides care to are now available.

Providing care information can be recorded and updated in any registration conversation.

The information that you record in the PAS will be available for the doctors, nurses, and other clinicians to see in the patient's electronic medical record.

It's very important to know when a patient has a carer so that we can include them as a partner in the patient's care. Patients and their carers tell us that they have a better experience when they are able to talk to you and work with the doctors, nurses and other staff. When we involve the carer there is less risk that the patient will come back to hospital unnecessarily.

Everybody benefits when we include the patient and their carer in discussions about their treatment and healthcare. [Music]