In early June, VHA CEO Leigh Clarke, supported by our General Manager, Communications and Engagement, Hazel Penfold, and Senior Policy and Advocacy Advisor, Keera Weise, got out on the road to meet hospital and community health service members in the South West region.
We would like to extend a big thank you to the services for hosting us and sharing their valuable insights to help shape our member offerings and advocacy agenda.
The message was clear that the challenges experienced across the sector have nuanced and often-intensified implications for rural and regional members. We heard that the health of the community is strengthened by strong community connection and identity.
For services, this fosters a groundswell of local support and community ownership of the hospital and community health services. Conversely, services operate in an environment where they are penalised for a lack of economies of scale with retrofit metro-centric models of care. These challenges continue to impact the viability of services. and the VHA will have a strong rural and regional advocacy agenda to support critical changes needed across aged and urgent care.
Rigid workforce regulations for public sector residential aged care is an ongoing challenge, particularly for our rural and regional members, ultimately impacting the communities they serve. This was reinforced throughout the road trip as we heard first-hand the importance of keeping PSRAC beds open for the community. During this trip, the issue was elevated into the public sphere: you can see our comments online in The Australian and in our statement on the VHA website.
Our efforts to advocate for members will not stop here. We are taking a multi-pronged approach to get the best outcome for PSRACS and older Victorians. We are ultimately seeking alignment between state and federal aged care workforce requirements but recognise this is a longer-term solution.
We are in active and ongoing discussions with the Victorian Department of Health, the Minister for Health, the ANMF, and other relevant stakeholders to find a collective solution to open the beds. This might include interim solutions about workforce trials and other potential solutions that will help Victorian PSRACS to adopt a more flexible and contemporary workforce model.
We heard the department is currently reviewing the Health Executives and Employment Renumeration (HEER) policy. The VHA wants to ensure that the review supports workforce retention across the sector and adequately reflect market rate. The VHA will be engaging with the department to inform the review process.
Ambiguity of funding responsibility between State and Commonwealth governments continues to create confusion for all Victorians. In an environment of increased and sustained demand, it is evident that we need to think differently. Local innovation that aims to keep people healthy and out of hospital is happening across the system, but members are constantly challenged by arbitrary funding red tape that doesn’t support them to keep people healthy and out of hospital.
For hospitals, there are ongoing funding challenges of UCC despite the recent review of the model. This is further complicated by the Commonwealth’s introduction of Medicare Urgent Care Centres in Victoria, which adds to the ambiguity of the role of Victoria’s UCC model and the need for a sustainable and funding model in a time when UCC presentations are increasing.
The VHA made a submission to the National Health Funding Agreement mid-term review and is advocating to ensure that federal/state healthcare funding models can sustain the emerging needs of our community, including reflecting population growth and demographic shifts.
Leigh and the team will continue their listening tour with the next stop being the Grampians and Mildura region. We look forward to meeting with members as our rural and regional road trip continues.