Page 1797 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 4 June 2014
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The “Be my voice” campaign promotes advanced care planning. This is an advertising campaign designed to raise awareness of end-of-life issues and advanced care planning, a program delivered by ACT Health to provide a quality assurance system of discussing, recording and documenting a person’s healthcare wishes.
Medicare Local is also part of the human service task force overseeing the human services blueprint project, another important element of yesterday’s budget. Finally, the partners in recovery program supports Canberrans living with enduring mental health concerns to develop their own plans for sustained recovery and to facilitate access to local services and support.
The work of our Medicare Local does not stop there, and I would like to list a few more valuable functions it has provided for our health sector and our community at large: comprehensive studies to identify gaps in primary healthcare services for the community, such as the 2013 health needs assessment—a population health profile, regional health service mapping, extensive consultation with health service users and analysis of where efficiencies can be made in handling data.
Of course, much of this work faces an uncertain future due to the announcement made three weeks ago on commonwealth budget night. The commonwealth announced that it intends to replace Medicare locals with primary health networks from 1 July 2015. At face value the role of the primary health networks will be positive in the community. They are expected to establish clinical councils with significant GP presence and local consumer advisory committees that are aligned to local hospital networks to ensure primary healthcare and acute care sectors work together to improve patient care.
A locally coordinated and governed system of primary health care plays an important role in containing the rapid growth of hospital and other high cost care in the face of challenges such as avoidable hospital admissions and ED care, chronic and complex disease and ageing population and mental health issues among many others. This general approach enjoys widespread support. However, the new commonwealth policy will demand a major transition process across the country, and the ACT will not be immune.
The ACT Medicare Local has told its members and stakeholders that work will continue as planned in the short term. But its work will be affected by the tender process the commonwealth has announced. The commonwealth has indicated that an open tender process will occur later this year in which both public and private sector organisations will be able to apply to deliver the primary health network role. As with many elements of the commonwealth’s budget, there are consequences which were not properly thought through. It may be that as part of the tendering process Medicare Local will need to reconsider its current objectives, structure and set-up.
Over the next 12 months the Medicare Local will endeavour to continue to deliver programs and services as usual, but some adjustments may be necessary as it monitors its financial situation, manages uncertainty about future arrangements and positions itself in the tender process. Put more simply, the tender process puts important work
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