19 June 2020: any MRCA Treatment Pathway 1 and Treatment Pathway 2 information below has been retained for historical purposes only. A Single Treatment Pathway has been in effect since 12 December 2019. See section 8.1 Overview for current information.
Some former members of the ADF with serious injures may require extensive care to live independently in the community. Appropriate care may be provided through Attendant Care services provided for in Chapter 4 of the MRCA, and discussed in detail in Chapter 9 of this manual. However some persons will require community nursing services in their own home in order to live independently.
Part 7.3 of the MRCA Treatment Principles provides Community Nursing for Repatriation Health Card holders on Treatment Pathway 2. The Community Nursing program provides access to community nursing services to eligible former members of the ADF to meet all of their clinical needs. These clinical needs are assessed by the contracted community nursing provider that delivers the community nursing services. It is expected that a majority of former ADF members requiring community nursing services on Treatment Pathway 2 will have a high complexity and level of care needs.
The Community Nursing program has an 'Exceptional Case Unit' of contracted specialist nurses that assesses the individual care needs of complex and high level clients to determine the fee to be paid for this care.
A serving member may need access to nursing services prior to discharge and being placed on Treatment Pathway 2. In these circumstances where it is expected that a serving member will be placed on Treatment Pathway 2, a DVA-contracted community nursing provider should be used unless there is good reason why such a provider cannot be accessed. This should occur even if the cost of these services may initially be met by Defence or via Treatment Pathway 1, to ensure continuity of care. Therefore, it is important to liaise with the ADF Rehabilitation Coordinator and the Community Nursing manager in the relevant DVA Location office. A list of DVA's contracted Community Nursing providers by geographic region can be found on DVA's internet site at http://www.dva.gov.au/service_providers/community_nursing/contracted_providers/Pages/index.aspx
Persons requiring nursing care should be placed on Treatment Pathway 2 as soon as possible following discharge from the ADF.