With a growing effort to keep people out of hospital, community based services are meeting an important need, writes Greta Marsh.

It's late on a Friday afternoon and 45-year-old Mary is in a great deal of pain from a laceration she sustained from a recent fall. At first she tried to manage her own wound care, but now it is infected so she takes herself to her GP. She has increased swelling and wound exudate and is unable to use her hand. Her GP commences her on oral antibiotics but he doesn't have the resources to manage Mary's wound or monitor her over the weekend. This is a common situation faced by GPs and patients, and on many occasions the only solution is going to hospital. But instead of having to wait it out in...