When hospital may not be the right pathway.

Where an older person has been clinically assessed as suitable for residential respite, DailyCare helps authorised teams identify and contact participating providers with appropriate care capability and availability.
The result is a safer pathway to the right care setting—and the potential to prevent an unnecessary hospital presentation or admission.

How it works

1. Identify- An older person is identified in an emergency department or community setting as potentially suitable for residential respite.

2. Assess- An appropriately qualified clinician or authorised service assesses the person’s health, safety, care requirements, preferences and respite eligibility.

3. Connect- DailyCare searches participating residential aged care providers using the person’s location, care needs, preferences and required admission timeframe.

4. Confirm- The referring team contacts suitable providers directly to confirm clinical acceptance, availability, fees and admission arrangements.

5. Transition -Once a provider accepts the referral and all required approvals and arrangements are in place, the person can transition safely into respite care. 

One connected pathway. Two points of access.

From the emergency department

DailyCare supports emergency department clinicians and care coordinators working within short assessment and disposition timeframes.

Once clinical suitability has been established, teams can search for needs-matched residential respite options, including providers indicating availability today, tomorrow, after hours, on weekends or public holidays.

This gives eligible patients a direct pathway from the emergency department into appropriate respite care, while preserving acute hospital capacity for patients who require it.

 From the community

The same infrastructure can be used earlier—before a situation escalates into an emergency department presentation.

Authorised community referrers can identify respite options for older people experiencing carer breakdown, an urgent change in circumstances or a temporary need for greater care and supervision.

Potential access points may include:

• General practitioners and health networks

• Virtual emergency and telehealth services

• Ambulance and community paramedicine teams

• Hospital outreach and in-reach services

• Aged care assessment and care coordination teams

• Carer support and navigation services

• Approved health and community organisations

This creates a visible pathway between community care, health services and residential aged care—helping people access support at the earliest safe opportunity.

 Clinical safety remains the first step

DailyCare does not perform clinical assessments, determine eligibility or replace the professional judgement of clinicians, aged care assessors or participating providers.

The referring organisation remains responsible for determining whether respite is a safe and appropriate pathway. The aged care provider remains responsible for completing its admission assessment and confirming that it can meet the person’s needs.

Consumer choice, consent, clinical appropriateness and safe transfer planning remain central throughout the process.

Designed with the hospital-to-aged-care pathway

DailyCare has been developed through years of collaboration with hospital discharge teams, emergency care coordinators and residential aged care providers across Melbourne’s public health system.

Emergency Respite extends this connected infrastructure upstream—creating an opportunity to intervene before an avoidable admission occurs.

Visibility beyond the individual referral

Every search and care transition can contribute to a clearer understanding of local demand, provider responsiveness and service gaps.

At a health-service and catchment level, this can help organisations understand:

• Where emergency respite demand is occurring

• Whether suitable supply is available when it is needed

• Why referrals are accepted or declined

• Which care needs are difficult to accommodate

• Where after-hours or geographically accessible capacity is limited

• Where future service development may be required

This turns emergency respite from an informal series of phone calls into a measurable component of patient flow infrastructure.