Personalised Care Throughout Your Joint Replacement Journey

As a leader in orthopaedic joint replacement surgery, the Mater hospital strives to provide our patients with excellent care for their entire joint replacement journey. To continue to provide this high standard of care, the Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Services Department has established a new team to improve our service excellence and your patient experience.

What is the Mater Continuous Care Team? 

The Mater Continuous Care Team (MCCT) is made up of both highly experienced Orthopaedic Nurses and Physiotherapists. The team has been established to educate, prepare and support all hip and knee joint replacement patients pre-operatively, and will continue to support patients for approximately 2 weeks following discharge, with the aim to ‘bridge the gap’ and ensure a smooth transition for you from hospital to home, until your care is taken over by your follow-up Physiotherapy teams. Evidence supports pre-operative education, pre-habilitation and post-discharge phone calls in ensuring a positive outcome for patients, and a decrease in adverse events.

We understand that undergoing this surgery is a big milestone in your life, and our Mater teams want to be with you every step of the way. As soon as you book in for joint replacement surgery, we encourage you to get in contact with us. The MCCT will complete pre-operative assessments and education with you via a telephone consultation, including guidance with home setup and any equipment that is required following your operation. We will advise on specific pre-habilitation exercises to complete in the lead up to your surgery to improve your recovery following your operation, and explain what to expect during your hospital stay. We have many new resources for your benefit, including a pre-operative information Patient Education Video, and a pre-operative booklet which will assist in setting up realistic post-operative expectations for your recovery.

In line with evidence based practice and global trends, the Mater Hospital and our Surgeons are supportive of discharge directly Home. Studies suggests greater levels of activity occur in those who are at home completing their ongoing rehabilitation, rather than staying in hospital longer than necessary. This greater level of activity occurring whilst you rehabilitate at home allows you to return to normal levels of function and your desired activities sooner.

Our Team visit patients whilst on the ward following their operation, ensuring all questions or concerns are answered, and providing a post-operative ‘Going Home’ booklet which contains all the necessary advice and education for the early days once home following their operation, so that you can go home safely and confidently. 

It is expected that you will have follow-up Physiotherapy to continue your ongoing Rehabilitation as an outpatient. The team will guide you through the appropriate follow-up care for wound and pain management, and ensure you have a smooth transition home with all the necessary care and follow-up. The Mater Continuous Care Team will direct patients back to their Surgeon, GP, Rehabilitation Physician at Day Therapy, or the Rehab in the Home Nursing care provider, as appropriate. Subsequent phone calls will then be made as required, to ensure we can continue to look after you for the first two weeks of arriving home.

Get in touch.

The team is available during the following hours to assist with your concerns.

Monday - Friday: 8am - 4pm

Saturday: 8am - 12pm

Call: (02) 9900 7475

Email: mcct@svha.org.au