As Western Australia embarks on its statewide collaborative commissioning partnership, health leaders are looking to Queensland’s experiences for critical lessons.
At the WA Collaborative Commissioning Partnership Forum, Lucille Chalmers, CEO of the Darling Downs and West Moreton Primary Health Network, shared a candid assessment of what worked and what didn’t in the sunshine state.
Ms Chalmers, a respected leader with a strong commitment to improving community health and wellbeing, has played a pivotal role in Queensland’s progressive approach to designing, delivering and commissioning health services.
She shared that the foundational element that underpins successful collaborative commissioning is the adoption of a ‘one health system leadership mindset’.
She explained that while health professionals are often focused on the interests of their own organisation or sector, genuine reform demands a collective approach.
“To come together to think about the entire system is actually something that’s new for all of us,” she said.
“But if we don’t do that and if we don’t step out of our own organisational kind of view of the world, we’re not going to solve these problems from a whole of system perspective.”
Ms Chalmers emphasised the need for open discussions about what collaboration truly looks like in practice, acknowledging that shared decision-making might sometimes benefit some organisations more than others. She encouraged leaders to invest in building trust and understanding and to recognise that embracing a new way of working will take time.
“Some of the challenges in taking that approach on are really worth investing in and acknowledging that it’s a new way of working and that it’s going to take time and that that’s okay,” she said.
WA health leaders involved in the partnership are cautiously optimistic that drawing on Queensland’s experience will help WA avoid common pitfalls and lay the groundwork for a robust, future-proofed approach to collaborative commissioning. The hope is that by prioritising whole-system thinking and partnership, WA can deliver better health outcomes for communities across the state.