Event Details

Imagine an Emergency Department designed for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people… how would it look? how would the staff look? what conversations would they be having? how do we develop that?

Children’s Health Queensland in partnership with the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health (Community Controlled Health Service) launched MOB ED in February 2023. MOB ED creates a culturally safe care pathway for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children, young people, and their kin presenting to Queensland Children’s Hospital ED. The MOB ED model of care focus on cultural and community safety at each touchpoint on the Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander patient journey, by providing an extra layer to wrap around the usual patient journey. 

MOB ED is led and 100% staffed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, mob caring for mob. This successful model demonstrates self-determination in health care, with the aim of creating culturally safe and responsive environments and practices that, in turn ensure the wellbeing and health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. MOB ED currently provides Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Worker coverage in the ED from 7am-11pm,  seven days a week. However, the workforce continues to grow, with the aim to ultimately provide 24hr cover.

From 2022 to 2023, the number of patients presenting to QCH ED who identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander increased by over 10%. Over the same period, there has been a reduction in proportion of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander families who did not wait (DNW) to be seen from 4.2% to 2.5%. In the first 5 months of the program there was also a tenfold increase in patient referrals to the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health, supporting timely access to culturally appropriate community-based care. 

Learn more about MOB ED: https://youtu.be/H1J3iMo2W8Q