Australia’s health and community services sector is a complex, multi-faceted web of public and private, for profit and not-for-profit, hospital and primary care providers operating in a range of settings.

People with chronic and complex health needs are likely to experience multiple transfers, including referrals, across the healthcare sector.

Even if people are not moving between services, the involvement of multiple providers, organisations and community support services in a persons' care, coupled with a lack of communication about the role of each service, can inhibit quality person-centred care, create duplicate information, frustrate providers and even cause adverse events.

For a person, this complexity can impact on their:

• trust in and journey through the system
• health outcomes
• wellbeing
• ability to proactively manage their health and wellbeing.

When working with people involved with multiple agencies and interventions, effective communication with all members of the healthcare team is vitally important.