Spinal Community Integration Service
Guidelines for providing spinal community integration services to injured workers
June 2013
The WorkSafe Agent (the Agent) can pay the reasonable
costs of the Spinal Community Integration Service provided
by Austin Health when required as a result of a work-related
spinal cord injury (SCI) under Victorian workers
compensation legislation.
Background
Workers who sustain a SCI have particular needs with their
transition from hospital to the community. The Victorian
Spinal Cord Service (Austin Health) offers a Spinal
Community Integration Service (SCIS) designed to meet
the transition and community integration needs of
individuals with a SCI.
The primary functions of the SCIS are to:
 facilitate a worker’s transition from hospital and reintegration into the community
 provide a coordinated approach for workers to receive
trans-disciplinary support and education.
This program commences while a worker is an inpatient at
either the Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre or Caulfield
Hospital and continues for 12 months post discharge into
the community.
This service does not substitute existing inpatient
rehabilitation or community rehabilitation services. It is a
specialised service that aims to increase independence, self
management and integration in the community after a SCI.
The service works with hospital and community providers to
provide specialist expertise related to the holistic
management of a worker after a spinal cord injury. Workers
will still access existing community rehabilitation and
disability providers through local community services.
The SCIS also focuses on enhancing the capacity of
existing community rehabilitation and disability providers to
better manage SCI specific issues faced by workers. The
SCIS does this by providing a tailored approach to
community transition and integration through the
identification of individual goals, facilitating family support
and social networks and providing specialised SCI
consultation and support to existing community providers.
Definitions
In this policy:
 Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) is damage or trauma to the
spinal cord that results in loss or impaired function of
mobility or sensation. It can also affect the functioning of
internal organs and bodily systems.
 The Victorian Spinal Cord Service (VSCS) is a
specialist spinal cord service that provides acute
management and rehabilitation for people who have
sustained spinal cord injuries. It provides inpatient and
outpatient services at the Austin Hospital and Royal
Talbot Rehabilitation Centre in addition to a range of
clinics and community based services.
 An inpatient is an individual worker who receives
treatment and other hospital services while admitted to a
hospital for overnight care.
 A community outpatient setting is the setting for which
the primary purpose is not medical care, e.g. schools,
worksites, shopping centres, homes.
 A trans-disciplinary approach is a framework allowing a
healthcare team to collaborate, pool and integrate
expertise of team members to contribute to the
assessment, planning and intervention with an individual.
This approach usually results in fewer professionals
working directly with individual workers.
 The Community Integration Program (CIP) is an initiative
that provides specialist care for eligible catastrophically
injured workers in partnership with the Transport Accident
Commission (TAC). Eligible workers are defined as those
who have an accepted claim for compensation for a SCI
resulting in quadriplegia/paraplegia or an acquired brain
injury rated as severe or moderately severe.
 The Agent refers to the CIP team at the TAC.
Note: This policy is a guideline issued by WorkSafe Victoria under Victorian workers compensation legislation in respect of
the reasonable costs of services.
WSV1503/02/05.13
Policy for Spinal Community Integration Service
Guidelines
What can the Agent pay for in relation to the
Spinal Community Integration Service?
The Agent can pay the reasonable costs of the SCIS for a
worker:
Who can provide the Spinal Community
Integration Service?
The SCIS is a specialised service which can only be
provided to workers with a SCI by the Austin Health
VSCS.
 who is participating in the Community Integration
Program
In relation to the Spinal Community Integration
Service what won’t the Agent pay for?
 when the services are:
The Agent will not pay for:
 required as a result of a work-related SCI
 treatment or services for a person other than the worker
 reasonable, necessary and appropriate in the
circumstances
 SCIS services not provided by the Austin Health VSCS
 clinically justified, safe and effective
Further information
 in accordance with WorkSafe’s guidelines.
Prior approval is not required for a worker to access the
SCIS.
 fees associated with cancellation or non-attendance.
Contact the referring Agent or email
[email protected].