Health Justice Partnership (HJP)

Working together with Campbelltown Hospital, to improve social, health and wellbeing outcomes for patients and their families…

Our Health Justice Partnership (HJP) is an integrated, patient-centred service model that addresses complex, multifaceted legal and non-legal patient concerns through effective referral pathways to meet the immediate socio-legal health needs of patients.  MLC solicitors are now based at Campbelltown Hospital every Friday and provide free and confidential legal advice, assistance, support and referrals to inpatients and outpatients. Solicitors also attend Camden and Campbelltown Hospitals (CCH) on an ad-hoc basis during the week, as needed (this includes the palliative care unit and the Campbelltown Cancer Therapy Centre).  The model encapsulates the WHO definition of Health as a “state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”– enabling social well-being via access to constructive legal support services.  As part of this program we work collaboratively and seamlessly with hospital staff (particularly social workers), to deliver holistic solutions to clients and their families.

Our 12-month review of this pilot project (conducted in March 2019) indicates that 73% of clients were assisted with elder law and end-of-life planning issues (wills, enduring powers of attorney, enduring guardianship, advanced care directives etc.).   The remainder were assisted with a mixture of family law, family violence, estate administration, superannuation and other issues.  74% of clients required assistance with more than one legal issue. 76% of clients had incomes under $30,000, with 56% suffering from terminal illness.  60% of clients assisted (all of whom had identified legal needs) said they would nothave sought legal assistance elsewhere, had it not been for our free service.

In 2019, our HPJ was ‘Highly Commended’ in the South West Sydney Local Health District (SWSLHD) Quality Awards.  We also participated in the Health Justice Australia conference, in Sydney – see this link for a copy of our HJP poster submission for this conference…HJP conference poster 2019.

Here’s an example of the typical feedback we see from HJP clients:

Meeting Andrei and Milka has given us peace of mind about legal matters that were worrying us, and it is greatly appreciated.  We are so amazed and happy at the friendly and convenient way in which Andrei and Milka have assisted us.  Thank you for coming to Palliative Care as my partner would not have been able to attend the office.

The end-of-life work done by our solicitors brings peace of mind to individual clients, and also helps prevent future legal battles, by ensuring that clients have legally-binding documentation in place that clearly embodies their wishes.

If you’re a patient of Campbelltown Hospital, or related services and are interested in accessing free legal advice and assistance, through our HJP, please talk to hospital social work staff to book an appointment.  We currently provide preliminary telephone advice, with follow-up appointments at our Centre, if needed (e.g. for finalisation of wills, enduring power of attorney, enduring guardianship documents etc.).

Please talk to hospital social work staff, or call us on (02) 4628 2042, for further information about free legal advice.