Nurse-led Hepatitis C Models of Care in Prisons – Nurses are on the prisoners’ side

Jac Clegg from Justice Health NSW presented today on the nurse-led model of care for hepatitis C – a safe and effective model for hep C assessment, management and treatment. The nurse-led model of care is led by clinical nurse consultants who use protocols to assess and triage patients.

The role of these CNCs also includes treatment education, initiation, monitoring of adverse effects and follow-up post treatment. Evaluation of the pilot has shown that there is a strong correlation between the triage category determined by CNCs and specialists, indicating nurses are appropriately triaging patients.

What would be the barriers to implementing a similar model in other settings, for example rural/remote environments?

Would other States/Territories establish a similar model in their prison systems?

I hope this successful pilot in NSW fuels the discussion of rolling out nurse-led models of care.