Local solutions to rural aged care challenges

At a glance 

• 1,500+ episodes of care delivered across participating residential aged care homes 

• A flexible nurse-led model is improving primary care access in communities where workforce and service options are limited 

• Increased access to vaccinations, pathology, psychosocial support, falls prevention, health assessments and medication reviews 

• Practice nurses are being supported to work to the top of their scope, backed by training, scholarships, mentoring and a Community of Practice 

When the first solution doesn’t work, sometimes the answer is to go back to the very people the solution is trying to help. 

During 2025-2026, Murrumbidgee Primary Health Network (MPHN) did exactly that to improve primary care access for older people living in residential aged care homes in some of the Murrumbidgee’s thinnest healthcare markets. 

Funded through the General Practice Aged Care Incentive Thin Markets Activity, MPHN initially sought to recruit a nurse practitioner. When recruitment proved unsuccessful, MPHN returned to local general practices and aged care homes to redesign the approach.  

The result was the Murrumbidgee Aged Care Access Network – a flexible, nurse-led model tailored to individual communities. In some locations, GPs and practice nurses visit aged care homes together. In others, nurses undertake assessments, wound and catheter care, education and advance care planning, allowing GPs to focus on residents with more complex needs.  

The model is particularly important in places such as Moulamein, where a GP makes a 140-kilometre round trip from Barham, and Hillston, where a Griffith-based GP and nurse travel 220 kilometres return to provide care.  

More than 1,500 episodes of care have now been delivered, alongside increased access to vaccinations, pathology, psychosocial support, falls prevention, health assessments and medication reviews.  

For MPHN General Practice & Aged Care Incentive Coordinator Jane Gerhard, the experience demonstrates the value of listening locally. 

“When we re-consulted with GPs and residential aged care homes on what the model could look like, everyone was very engaged and supported a model that enabled practice nurses to work at the top of their scope.”  

It is a practical example of MPHN responding to workforce constraints with flexibility, partnership and greater use of the capability already in rural communities.