Delivering a Healthy WA

Our strategic intent 2005 -2010 outlines our key intentions and commitments for the next five years to Deliver a Healthy WA.

Western Australia’s public health system (WA Health) is entering one of the most exciting and challenging decades of service provision in our State’s history. A set of strategic directions for our public health system was presented in December 2004. These directions built on the vision provided by the Health Reform Committee’s ?nal report (Reid report, 2004) and its initial implementation through the Health Reform Implementation Taskforce (HRIT). It is now the task of everyone in WA Health to implement the required reforms as a team.

our strategic directions

Six priority areas were identified by the State Executive Team in December 2004. Coordinating activities into these key areas has already provided better focus and direction for WA Health to be more accountable and truly Deliver a Healthy WA. The six strategic directions or priority areas are:

• Healthy workforce
• Healthy hospitals
• Healthy partnerships
• Healthy communities
• Healthy resources
• Healthy leadership

Our Strategic Directions 2005 focused on the major goals for the public health system, identified the objectives and actions that will be pursued, and set the basis for the development of WA Health’s Strategic Intent 2005 - 2010.

our strategic intent 2005 - 2010

Our strategic intent 2005 -2010 outlines our key intentions and commitments for the next five years to Deliver a Healthy WA, and:

• describes to our community what we aim to achieve during the next five years
• provides direction for our staff on how their work contributes to achieving our objectives
• provides direction for our management on the priorities and in allocating resources
• identifies the challenges we are expecting to face in achieving our goals
• guides our operational planning and budgeting

  our purpose

  Our purpose is to ensure healthier, longer and better lives for all Western Australians.

  our vision

  Our vision is to improve and protect the health of Western Australians by providing a safe, high quality, accountable and sustainable health care system. We recognise that this care is achieved through an integrated approach to all the components of our health system. These components include workforce, hospitals and infrastructure, partnerships, communities, resources and leadership. We also recognise that WA Health must work with a vast number of groups if it is to achieve the vision of a world-class health system. We will be successful in Delivering a Healthy WA through our six strategic directions: healthy workforce, healthy hospitals, healthy partnerships, healthy communities, healthy resources and healthy leadership.

  HEALTHY WORKFORCE

  Our health system workforce is the foundation of the delivery of health care. WA Health is committed to providing and promoting a healthy working environment, which inspires staff and enables their participation in the Delivering a Healthy WA agenda.

  We will ensure our workforce continues to be vibrant and that our workforce planning is responsive to local, national and international workforce pressures. To do this it is essential that we have appropriate workforce planning tools to be able to prepare and respond to future workforce demands.

  A strategic workforce plan will provide a framework for addressing health workforce issues. It aims to ensure that workforce shortages are minimised, opportunities are provided for training and professional development and that a high standard of knowledge and skills is achieved and recognised. We need to think ‘outside the square’ on this issue. The challenge of ensuring an adequate and skilled workforce provides some hugely exciting opportunities.

  We commit to...

• Developing and deploying a statewide strategic workforce plan.
• Establishing a vibrant and positive workplace and system culture.
• Attracting and retaining people in our public health system through:
  Reducing/eliminating competition between health services; and
  Improving rewards, benefits, recognition, incentives and working conditions.
• Promoting workforce innovation through:
  Workforce redesign – doing health care differently;
  Job redesign – new types of health care workers;
  Deploying new technology in new workforce design;
  Investing in workforce development and training; and
  Developing integrated clinical networks across the health system.

  HEALTHY HOSPITALS

  While a key thrust of the reform agenda is to move the focus of patient care away from hospitals, a significant proportion of health system activity still relates to hospitals and health services. With it comes the key task of delivering safe, comprehensive, high quality clinical services to patients. Our intention is to improve access to and efficiency in hospital and health care services based on population needs now and in the future.

  This will include a significant hospital building and infrastructure redevelopment program during the next 13 years. The result will be better alignment and integration between our facilities, clinical services and integrated clinical networks.

  We will also be looking at new models of facilities, which better fit the individual community’s needs, especially in regional and remote areas.

  We commit to...

• Developing and deploying a statewide Clinical Services Plan that is based on population needs.
• Developing and deploying the Capital Infrastructure Plan through:
  Developing and renewing our hospital stock; and
  Ensuring absolute consistency of the Capital Infrastructure Plan with the Clinical Services Plan.
• Reducing demand on traditional hospital services through:
  Increasing non-hospital ambulatory care services;
  Preventing patient readmissions to hospital through improved care coordination;
  Improving clinical and non-clinical administrative processes within health services; and
  Implementing and reporting on common efficiency and benchmarking standards.
• Ensuring safety and quality in our health services.

  HEALTHY PARTNERSHIPS

  The continuing success of the reform program and the health system as a whole is dependent on strong relationships with other health care related bodies, as well as those agencies whose activities impact on the health of our community, e.g. Education, Environmental Health. We rely on such partnerships in the planning and delivery of innovative, cost effective and high quality health care services.

  Our intent is to create stronger links and partnerships with other government agencies, non-government organisations, consumers, community groups, private providers, health professionals and the Australian Government, all of who have an interest in the wellbeing of our health system.

  Nowhere will partnerships be more exciting than in health and medical research. Underpinning our vision of a world-class health system will be a uniting of and investing in research, teaching, training and education. WA Health welcomes the pivotal role private health and aged care providers play in service planning and delivery.

  Only as a united group of motivated and committed partners can the vision of Delivering a Healthy WA be met.

  We commit to...

• Establishing a framework in which all health providers understand and have a clear role in WA Health.
• Establishing rural/metropolitan links which improve access for rural and remote communities.
• Engaging the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing in service reform in the major areas of:
  Pharmaceutical reform;
  Aged care services;
  General practice and improved coordination of care; and
  Primary care interface.
• Developing a strategic plan for immediate investment in health and medical research infrastructure.
• Increasing the role of the non-government organisation sector.
• Establishing closer relationships with central Government agencies.
• Improving relationships with other public sector agencies.
• Improving relationships with academic institutions and colleges.
• Exploring how to improve and increase involvement of private health care organisations with our public health system. Delivering a Healthy WA

  HEALTHY COMMUNITIES

  Our intention is to focus on improving lifestyles, working on the prevention of ill health, and the implementation of a long-term, integrated health promotion program. This will be done in collaboration with government and non-government agencies, general practitioners and community groups.

  Priority will be given to the improvement of community-based management of chronic and long-term conditions and to expanding access to services in the community. Most of the strategies to be deployed will by necessity involve partnering with other agencies and providers.

  This is especially true if we are to make the much talked of, but much needed vision of improving Aboriginal health. This still remains one of WA Health’s major challenges. Critical to the achievement of our vision of a healthy community is the involvement of consumers and carers in our planning, delivery and evaluation of health services.

  We commit to...

• Increasing the focus on the promotion of health and wellbeing through:
  An awareness of the social determinants of health and the importance of a good start in life;
  Health promotion to ensure adequate physical activity and good nutrition; and
  Continuing initiatives to stop smoking and reduce the uptake of smoking.
• Increasing awareness of chronic disease and long-term conditions and the importance of identifying risk factors.
• Empowering communities and individuals to self manage chronic and long-term conditions.
• Increasing care in the community through non-hospital based ambulatory care.
• Improving Aboriginal health by:
  Working with the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, as well as Aboriginal communities in developing new partnerships for service provision; and
  Developing culturally appropriate health service delivery.
• Fostering and supporting community/consumer support and engagement in health system performance.
• Expanding community participation in health leadership by increasing the number and enhancing the roles of the District Health Advisory Councils.

  HEALTHY RESOURCES

  A key rationale for reform in WA’s public health system is the need to deliver a sustainable, equitable and accountable health care service to all Western Australians.

  Our intention is to deliver sustainable resourcing and world-class management of health budgets.

  Accountability measures for health system resourcing and performance will be transparently reported to our community in order to reinforce this accountability.

  Critical to ensuring an efficient and well managed health system will be an entire overhaul of our information and communication technology (ICT) systems. ICT must be a key enabler of our new vision.

  We commit to...

  Incrementally introducing a population based Resource Allocation Funding Model.
• Establishing a four year planning horizon for budgets and resource allocation.
• Developing rolling equipment replacement and building maintenance programs.
• Delivering major structural reforms and achieving better efficiency in our system.
• Exploring innovative solutions for capital and infrastructure resourcing and major procurement initiatives such as Public Private Partnerships.
• Ensuring our information and communication technology aligns with the Clinical Services Plan.
• Implementing a legislative overhaul to underpin WA’s public health system.
• Implementing community reporting on health system performance.

  HEALTHY LEADERSHIP

  Healthy leadership is a vital factor which will take WA Health into the future. We believe leadership is about guiding others to achieve our vision for WA Health.

  Our intention is to continue to develop the leadership capacity and capability in WA Health. We will identify, and promote strong leadership at all levels within health care services.

  We commit to...

• Building a revitalised health system culture through a truly shared vision and values.
• Establishing a multi-level leadership development program.
• Increasing clinical leadership through the implementation and development of clinical networks.
• Developing and growing change management skills for all leaders.
• Ensuring governance, transparency and accountability at all levels of management.
• Focusing on capacity building and succession planning.
• Improving advocacy through influencing other sectors regarding health issues.
• Completing the implementation of the health reform initiatives.