IMPAC: Inner Melbourne Post Acute Care

Get high-quality support while you recover from hospital.

Who are we?

Inner Melbourne Post Acute Care (IMPAC) is a team of clinicians that help people recover at home after a stay in a public hospital. We are care coordinators who provide short term support and can organise services that go to your home. We can stay involved in your care for up to 4 weeks.

Some of the most common services we organise:

home care
personal care
shopping assistance (client only – escorted* or unescorted)
nursing
physiotherapy
industrial cleaning
respite or emergency accommodation.

Note: We strongly encourage anyone referring for nursing, industrial cleaning, respite and emergency accommodation to call us as these services have limitations and may require manager approval.

* Escorted shopping (ie. client attends with our carer) is provided for clients only. Family members, spouses, etc cannot accompany the client and carer during the shopping visit.

What do we do?

IMPAC is here to:

support healing and recovery
fill the gap until longer-term services commence
reduce the risk of re-admission to hospital
provide a rapid response
provide a flexible service that responds to each client’s particular needs.

How do we do work?

The IMPAC Care Co-ordinator will:

telephone you or your family or next of kin to discuss and arrange services
purchase the services needed through contracted providers
work with any community service agencies who are involved with your care
monitor service and care needs through regular phone contact with you, your supports and other involved agencies
liaise with agencies that will provide longer term services, like local councils
make referrals to other community agencies if needed
provide feedback and follow up with the hospital and general practitioner if needed
help clients navigate the healthcare system.

Fees

We do not charge fees for our services. However, clients are responsible for the cost of their own groceries if we provide a shopping service, and for consumables such as wound care supplies if their hospital-provided supply runs out.

Eligibility

To be eligible for Post Acute Care, you must:

have come home from a public hospital or public emergency department within the last 28 days
be a resident of the City of Yarra, City of Boroondara, City of Melbourne or the suburbs of Alphington, Fairfield, Northcote and Thornbury
Have a new need. If you already have support (e.g. cleaning through another program or social support), we would expect this to resume after your discharge.
Not currently have a Level 3 or 4 Home Care Package, or the equivalent under the new Aged Care system from 2025.

Please note: If a client is already receiving the requested services formally (such as through a My Aged Care home care package) or informally through family they may not be eligible for our program.

How to refer to us?

Self-referrrals

If you would like to refer yourself or your loved one, please give us a call 03 9418 9954 to determine eligibility. We can then help you through the referral process.

Hospital staff referrals

Hospital staff such as nurses, doctors, social workers, physiotherapists, occupational therapists should contact IMPAC prior to their patient’s discharge.

We recommended that all referrers call IMPAC program on 03 9418 9954 to discuss:

eligibility
care needs
service availability
other community referrals.

A referral can be made using any referral or assessment tool, provided it includes all of the following information:

client demographics (including Medicare number)
information about health conditions and care needs
client’s consent
risk assessment if already completed
relevant allied health assessments, wound care chart and medication orders if applicable.

You can also use this PAC referral form.

For all showering/personal care referrals, referrers can send through a personal care summary form from their hospital or alternatively please fill out this personal care summary form. We do not accept showering for clients who stand so please ensure they have appropriate equipment.

All nursing referrals:

Please call us for all nursing referrals.

We can assist with nursing during the first 5 days of discharge.
If nursing care is required after 5 days an ongoing plan should already be in place prior to IMPAC accepting the referral.
Nursing care that is not suitable for IMPAC includes titration of warfarin or insulin, complex wound care (for example, VAC dressings) and IV therapy or antibiotics.

Get in touch

By Phone

You can reach us on 03 9418 9954. We encourage you to call us with any questions. If we’re unable to answer, please leave a voicemail and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.