Multi Purpose Service (MPS)

There are 30 Multi Purpose Services (MPS) within the WA Country Health Service Health (WACHS). The first MPS in Western Australia commenced in 1993, and raised considerable interest from many rural communities across the country.

The MPS model involves the pooling of Commonwealth and State health and aged care funds within regional areas, and the use of these funds flexibly across all health and aged care programs according to community needs. Some of the advantages a MPS can offer to small communities includes:

• The ability to be innovative in service delivery by removing existing rigid program guidelines e.g.  meals can be provided from one site, hospital nurses can take on community and domiciliary roles, hospital gardeners can also provide home gardening support for the elderly.
• The opportunity for small communities to access Commonwealth funds to meet aged care needs in small communities.
• The opportunity to attract and retain staff by offering them flexible and multi-faceted roles.

The MPS model in WA ensures that health services in small towns have maximum flexibility to meet local needs and form part of an integrated network of services across the region.