Shaping excellence in healthcare, re-shaping preventative healthcare and building stronger regional and rural workforces, were the key themes underpinning day two of the VHA Conference.
More than 350 leaders gathered at the Sofitel Melbourne, today, Wednesday, 29 October to share insights and strategies for driving system improvement across Victoria’s health system. On day two, Victoria’s public health care CEOs, executives, board directors and policy makers heard powerful insights on the following:
Consumer engagement: ensuring the voices of patients and communities guide service design, delivery and decision-making, including improving health literacy.
Leadership in health reform: practical strategies for guiding teams and health systems through transformational change, including changing expectations of leadership which can often demand more from our healthcare leaders.
Shaping excellence in healthcare: learnings from across government and industry in improving clinical governance across quality/safety. With a focus on enabling safer and high-quality care and improve patient experience.
Primary care reform: re-shaping preventative healthcare, recognising the Federal Government’s progress and aim to strengthen general practice through existing reviews of funding models, workforce supply and distribution, and health workforce scope of practice.
Building stronger regional and rural workforces: innovating funding, skills and systems to meet the challenge, including a case study on the Connecting the Docs program, which is supporting workforce placements through strong partnerships with healthcare services.
VHA CEO Leigh Clarke said that day two provided significant opportunities for leaders to improve governance of health systems and healthcare delivery.
‘The conversations and learnings from day two have demonstrated opportunities for the sector to drive innovation, respond to the changing policy landscape and improve system performance – in support of delivering equitable and high-quality care for all Victorians.
‘We are proud to have returned the VHA Conference as an annual event, with this year’s timely focus on leading through transformational change, and we look forward to advancing further sector conversations at next year’s Conference.’
Quotes attributable to Professor Stephen Duckett AM, Honorary Professor at the University of Melbourne
Professor Stephen Duckett’s presentation provided insights into the directions of Federal primary care reform: addressing financial barriers to access and consumer out of-pocket costs, the shift towards funding multi-disciplinary teams and expanding workforce scope of practice.
‘A big focus of primary care reform has been focused on reducing out-of-pocket costs in general practice, and addressing problems inherent in a system historically based on fee-for-service. Policy settings have not incentivised the right type of care, particularly with the rising burden of chronic disease, but various policy responses by the Federal Government are seeking to change that.
‘We need to work towards payments which promote continuity in care, supported by funding models that incentivise a broad range of multidisciplinary health professionals best suited to a patient’s needs. Progress is being made and will continue to be made, and policymakers need to ensure funding models strike the right balance between improving system access, quality of care and system sustainability.’
Quotes attributable to Peter Breadon, Health Program Director at the Grattan Institute
Mr Breadon’s presentation was part of a panel of experts on Day 2 on a strong regional and rural workforce: innovating funding, skills and systems to meet the challenge. He outlined funding and governance reforms to address variations in GP and specialist care nationally and within Victoria.
‘GP services per person in major cities and rural and regional areas are similar, but they shouldn’t be – as services need to be better targeted at where the need is greatest. For specialist care, there are big differences in access and public services don’t fill the gap.’
‘There have been some been positive reforms to address these challenges, such as high uptake of rural generalists that can work across multiple healthcare settings and Federal reviews into workforce distribution – which aim to improve the spread of the workforce.
‘Future opportunities for funding reform should focus on block funding primary care in ‘thin’ markets where barriers to access exist, supported by targeted investment in public specialist capability and blended funding for the rural areas with sufficient competition and population.’
Quotes attributable to Dr Helen Bevan OBE, Professor of Practice in Health and Care Improvement at Warwick Business School - University of Warwick
In her keynote speech, Dr Bevan explored new ways of leading change as a response to the systemic shifts in our environment.
‘Across the globe, the healthcare sector is undergoing profound, unprecedented change. From the shift towards integrated healthcare and care in the community, to changing expectations of people who use services, healthcare leaders are navigating a different reality to what we knew and experienced previously.’
‘Leaders today must also balance the demands of delivering strong performance now, while also focusing on what is needed to deliver well tomorrow.
‘As a result, leaders need to lead change differently, igniting collective purpose, embracing adaptive thinking and practice and guiding teams through ambiguity.
‘Healthcare leaders have an incredible opportunity to build new capacities that enable them to thrive amid complexity and change. By embracing collaborative approaches, building organisational capability and learning to navigate ambiguity better, we can transform entire systems for the better.’
For further information contact:
Toli Papadopoulos
0408 851 302
Visit our website: www.vha.org.au