News

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Reimagined BEACH study dives into team care

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A new data project inspired by the renowned BEACH study is set to fill ‘a critical evidence gap’ in primary care, exploring workforce distribution, skills and clinical activity within multidisciplinary teams.
 
The Occasions of Care Explained and ANalysed (OCEAN) study will collect clinical encounter data from primary care team members in participating general practices, Aboriginal Medical Services (AMS) and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS).
 
In its first wave, researchers will be learning about the characteristics of these organisations.
 
Then, general practice nurses, nurse practitioners, physiotherapists, and Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Health Practitioners will be surveyed to identify their education, skills and experience, including ways to better support use of their full scope of practice.
 
According to the OCEAN team, the project will explore:
 

• Who is employed by general practices, AMSs, and ACCHSs?
• Who are their patients?
• What problems are they managing?
• How are they managing these problems?

 
The OCEAN tool builds on the strengths of the Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health model (best known as the BEACH study), which was considered ‘the most valid, reliable GP dataset in Australia’, running from 1998 to 2016.
 
OCEAN Nursing Chief Investigator, Professor Sue Randall, told newsGP this study will provide vital data on the composition of general practice teams, which is currently unknown.
 
‘The general practice environment has changed substantially since the closure of BEACH,’ she said.
 
‘Our early focus is to collect valid and reliable data that describes the characteristics of Australian general practices, AMSs, and ACCHSs in this modern multidisciplinary setting.’
 
Chair of the RACGP Expert Committee – Research Professor Dimity Pond said she welcomes this important project and looks forward to learning more about the contributions of other health professionals to the general practice team. 
 
‘Multidisciplinary teams are the way forward, and what shape or form the teams might take will be different. Understanding what teams are doing now through this OCEAN study is a really good start,’ she told newsGP.
 
‘I’d be really interested to see what their range of clinical activity is and what other activities they might do. It will be good to get everyone’s roles identified at the same time.
 
‘There’s huge scope for us GPs to be identifying ways in which allied health and nursing professionals can contribute to the team independently, and also ways in which we need to work together.
 
‘It’s great study. I’m thoroughly supportive of it. I would like to see funding for something like this for GPs as well.’
 
Like BEACH, OCEAN data is expected to play an important role in informing the development of future government policies and programs.
 
Dr Julie Gordon, OCEAN Chief Investigator, said ‘BEACH provided respected data that GPs needed to advocate for themselves and their profession’.
 
‘It is our aim that OCEAN will also be seen as a valid and reliable data source that is able to inform policy and practice in today’s complex environment.’
 
The project is led by The University of Sydney in collaboration with the University of Wollongong and the National Association of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Practitioners.
 
It is currently in its early national rollout, with all practices having been or soon-to-be invited to complete their practice profile.
 
The project will run until 30 June 2027.
 
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BEACH Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health multidisciplinary care Occasions of Care Explained and ANalysed OCEAN team care

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