Allan Faer (left) with his son Neil Fary and Clinical Director, Dr Rashid Mahmood.
South West Healthcare’s Geriatric Assessment in the Emergency Department (GAED) program has been named a finalist in the Care in the Community category of the 2026 Victorian Public Healthcare Awards.
This innovative, home-first model is changing the way frail older people are cared for when they present to Warrnambool Base Hospital’s Emergency Department, helping more people receive the right care, in the right place, at the right time.
Developed by South West Healthcare’s Clinical Director of Geriatric and Rehabilitation Medicine and Consultant Geriatrician, Dr Rashid Mahmood, the program proactively identifies older patients experiencing frailty and complex health issues early in their Emergency Department journey and directs them to more appropriate home-based care models, helping to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions.
Rather than automatically admitting patients to hospital, the GAED team intervenes early in the patient care journey, providing specialist assessment and working closely with patients, families, and a broad range of hospital and community services to develop personalised care plans that support safe discharge home wherever clinically appropriate.
The results have been significant.
Between March 2025 and March 2026, approximately 68 per cent of patients referred to the program either avoided hospital admission or were discharged within 24 hours. Around half of patients reviewed by GAED were also directly connected with community-based services following discharge.
Since the program began, GAED has improved the quality of life of people in the program by providing care and plans to prevent their health and mobility deteriorating and therefore avoiding the need to be treated in hospital. This enables people to live a better life whilst being at home. The other advantage is that it has reduced the time people need to spend in hospital when they need admission. This has resulted in the average time people need to spend in hospital reducing from eight days to six days. In addition, the program has contributed to reductions in re-admissions and Emergency Department re-presentations.
Dr Mahmood said the recognition reflected a fundamental shift in thinking about how older people could be cared for.
“Older people often present to the Emergency Department with subtle and non-specific symptoms, but may have complex and interconnected health, mobility and social issues. These can be difficult to identify and address without specialist geriatric expertise,” Dr Mahmood said.
Local man Alan Fary received care at home after a recent fall instead of being admitted to hospital. According to his son Neil “I get a bit emotional talking about it. We can’t speak more highly of the program – it means so much to dad to be able to stay at home, anyone who knows him knows that he is an independent sort of person. To not only be treated for his fall- but to find out some of the other underlying health concerns he had – and for an army of carers, doctors and nurses to come out and see him – he’s the best I have seen him in a long time.”
“For many people, hospital admission is not necessarily the best outcome. With the right specialist assessment and the right supports in place, many older people can receive excellent care at home or in their community,” says Dr Rashid.
“Our focus is on understanding the whole person, including their health, mobility, cognition, medications, support network and individual circumstances, before working with them and their family to create the safest and most appropriate pathway forward.”
The program works closely with services including GEM at Home, Hospital in the Home, community nursing, palliative care, the Hospital Admission Risk Program, general practitioners, My Aged Care providers and a wide range of community and regional health partners.
Keeping older people in familiar surroundings, where clinically appropriate, can help preserve mobility, cognition, independence, and emotional wellbeing, while reducing exposure to hospital-associated complications.
South West Healthcare CEO, Craig Fraser, said being named a finalist was recognition of the program’s innovation and the dedication of staff and partners working together to improve care for older people.
“GAED is a wonderful example of how innovation can deliver better outcomes for patients and improving their quality of life whilst not always needing to be an inpatient.,” Mr Fraser said.
“This program is helping older people maintain their independence and connection to their community.
“It is particularly significant that this model is the first time we have seen it in a Victorian regional service like ours. It demonstrates that regional health services can lead the way in developing innovative models of care that respond to the needs of their communities.”
The program is believed to be the first of its kind in rural Victoria, with some of the larger metro hospitals also working to adopt similar models and has also helped strengthen South West Healthcare’s reputation as a high-quality centre for geriatric medicine and professional development.
“The first year we ran the program we had no registrar application for Geriatrics training at South West Healthcare. Last year we had 13 applicants for one position,” says Dr Mahmood. “That says a lot about the reputation of the geriatric and rehabilitation medicine department and its programs, and the fact that people want to work within innovative models of care.”
The Victorian Public Healthcare Awards celebrate innovation, excellence and outstanding achievement across Victoria’s public healthcare system.
The GAED program will now join other finalists from across the state in the running for the Care in the Community Award.
For more award info go to: Victorian Public Healthcare Awards | health.vic.gov.au