By Chris Kane, Executive General Manager – Strategy and Engagement
While Australia’s health care system is one of the best in the world, the rising cost of living, along with workforce and accessibility challenges, mean we need to consider how primary health care is
delivered and ways we can better integrate health care services to ensure more people can access health care when and where they need it.
Primary health care reform has a significant role to play in the pursuit of health equity and creating a single health system in Western Australia. As the operator of WA’s three Primary Health Networks (PHN), WA Primary Health Alliance (WAPHA) is acutely aware of our role in driving primary health care reform, and supporting our commissioned service providers, general practice, aged care and allied health to navigate it.
The Australian Government’s Primary Health Care 10 Year Plan 2022-2032 and Strengthening Medicare reform budget measures provide strong guidance on investment and reform over the coming years to address the challenges in our primary health care system. WAPHA’s Strategic Plan 2023-2026, will help us to prioritise our strategic initiatives and deliver a coordinated program of work in line with directives from the Australian Government.
Signaling a new environment of collaboration, the WA Bilateral for Collaborative Commissioning agreement will formalise WAPHA’s partnership with the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care, WA Department of Health and Health Service Providers. The strength of innovative, multi-agency solutions cannot be underestimated. The Bilateral will enable co-commissioning and encourage shared accountability for outcomes aligned to the Quintuple Aim for Health Care Improvement, a significant and exciting step forward.
Targeting priority populations and places in our commissioning, capacity building and coordination of activities is crucial to improving access to primary health care services and ultimately improved health equity. WAPHA is undertaking a significant piece of work in using qualitative and quantitative data to optimise our efforts in ensuring these priority populations can access the health care they need.
Workforce challenges and limited number of services with longer than average wait times are often the reality in rural and remote areas of WA. WAPHA will be piloting innovative and sustainable primary health workforce models with a focus on multidisciplinary teams to address the challenges these communities face in accessing care.
Central to the role of PHNs is monitoring and evaluating our commissioned services to ensure they are efficient and effective, and to share learnings with local stakeholders, other PHNs and the state and federal governments. It is through sharing these valuable insights that we can drive improvement and see real progress. WAPHA’s Performance Management Framework and Commissioned Services Reporting Portal are supporting us in this.
Cultural competency, for us as an organisation, our commissioned service providers, and WA general practices, is integral to achieving health equity. We need to lead the way as a culturally competent organisation as we work with our commissioned service providers in applying standards of cultural competence to the services they provide. WAPHA’s Cultural Competency Frameworks, launched last year, will guide and support us as we work with communities, primary health care providers and partners across the health system in WA to ensure everyone who needs them has access to culturally competent and safe services.
Internally we continue to pursue efficiency in everything we do. This year we will have a particular focus on:
- Enabling a strategic program planning function within WAPHA and leveraging the roles of our senior advisors and strategic alignment groups.
- Establishing a fit for purpose primary health care strategy and planning function within our organisation.
- Embedding WAPHA’s stakeholder relationship management system throughout the organisation and using it effectively to support the way we engage with our stakeholders.
Challenges do lie ahead, however WAPHA’s focus is firmly on pursuing health equity and creating a single health system in WA. I’m hopeful the progress we are making in primary health care reform and strengthening our relationships with local primary health care providers and stakeholders will see us progressing towards health care that’s fair.