Gold Coast Health is recognised for quality patient care, nursing and midwifery excellence and innovations in professional nursing and midwifery practice under the Magnet® Recognition Program.
"Walking together in kindness" artwork produced for Gold Coast Health by Riki Salam, We are 27 Creative.
Caring for patients extends far beyond our hospital walls, and the GP Partnerships and Engagement Team (GPPE) is committed to making the transition between hospital and general practice as seamless as possible.
The GPPE team provides the link between Gold Coast Health and general practice, helping facilitate smooth, coordinated care across hospital and community settings.
The service has been operating since 2007 with Dr Kate Johnston, Medical Director General Practice Partnerships and Engagement, appointed as GP Liaison Officer in a joint role between Gold Coast Health and Gold Coast Division of General Practice.
Over almost 20 years, the team has grown from Dr Johnston’s part-time position to a small team who are busy supporting GPs to get advice and navigate our system, facilitating GP education sessions, creating HealthPathways, and gathering GP feedback to inform health service planning and service redesign across our health system.
Dr Johnston says the growth of the team reflects the increasing value the unit brings in connecting Gold Coast Health with general practice in what is an ever-changing healthcare landscape.
“As healthcare delivery has evolved, the unit's role has expanded from relationship-building to becoming a key contributor to service development, clinical engagement and system-wide improvement initiatives,” she said.
“With the expansion of Gold Coast Health services and the growth of patient and GP populations, I couldn’t do this by myself anymore. I have the best team in Gold Coast Health, who are all passionate about supporting our local GPs and improving patient care”.
Dr Johnston’s career journey has pivoted over the years, encompassing clinical, educational, academic and management roles including a joint Medical Director appointment in the Gold Coast Integrated Care Program - a four-year initiative in which Gold Coast Health partnered with GP and community services to improve care coordination for patients with complex and chronic conditions.
But she never swayed far from the GP Liaison role she is dearly passionate about.
“I trained as a medical student and junior doctor at Gold Coast Hospital, so when I left for GP training in the late 90s, I had good connections into many Gold Coast Health departments and always had someone to call for advice.
“Many of our GPs didn’t train here and don’t have that direct connection to seek advice or support, so I’m really proud to lead a team that provides a friendly face for my colleagues and helps make navigating our complex system a little easier for them and our mutual patients,” she said.
While Kate and her team are busy supporting GP referral and clinical handover processes, collaborating on service improvements, and improving communication between hospital services and GPs, Kate is also representing Gold Coast Health in other forums, taking her team’s experience and recommendations to the state level.
In 2023 Kate was appointed as Deputy Chair Queensland Clinical Senate, a group that brings together the voice of clinicians and consumers to provide recommendations to senior system leaders on important matters impacting the Queensland health system.
Recently, Kate was also appointed Co-Chair of the Queensland General Practice Liaison Network. This multidisciplinary network of clinicians provides strategic advice on matters relating to managing patient care across the interface of general practice and hospital settings.
Kate is excited to be a leader within the network and believes its mission is shared with that of the GPPE – to improve patient experience through a more coordinated and integrated health system.
“It is a great privilege to have been entrusted with both of these leadership roles,” she said. “I appreciate the opportunity to influence system level change that benefits the whole community”.
So, what’s been the biggest change in the GP Liaison over the last 20 years?
“We’re proud of the strong relationships we’ve built with general practice over the years, but the biggest change is definitely the digital solutions that have improved our efficiency and enhanced clinical handover to our GP colleagues,” says Dr Johnston.
“We’ve moved from handwritten triplicate carbon copy discharge summaries in milk crates in the medical records department to electronic clinical communications such as same day procedural reports, and next day notification of admissions and outpatient letters.
“Patients benefit when their healthcare providers are connected, informed and working together toward shared goals. And we have a team that make that their focus every day”.
