WA Primary Health Alliance acknowledges and pays respect to the Traditional Owners and Elders of this country and recognises the significant importance of their cultural heritage, values and beliefs and how these contribute to the positive health and wellbeing of the whole community. Service Provider Connect #95 - 14 February 2024 In this edition:
Executive General Manager's foreword
Procurement and contracting WAPHA Senior Contract Manager Local Consultation to inform Pilbara mental health service Extension of funding for Integrated Team Care program and Indigenous Mental Health Services Early Tender Advice - Supporting Primary Care Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence Pilot - Perth South PHN
Strategic update - Unleashing the Potential of our Health Workforce: Scope of Practice Review
General resources and information - Nominations now open for WAPHA's Aboriginal Stakeholder Reference Group
- Expression of interest for WAPHA's Service Provider Panel now open
- Working Better for Medicare review
- Forecast grant opportunity for Alcohol and other Drug treatment services - East Kimberley and Goldfields
- Digital Health Blueprint and Action Plan 2023-2033
- Regional Health Professionals Networks - Connecting health professionals in regional WA
- Identifying and supporting patients experiencing food insecurity
News and media - Broome Medicare Urgent Care Clinic opens
Training and events - Mental health Initial Assessment and Referral Decision Support Tool (IAR-DST) training sessions
- Family, domestic and sexual violence - GP information session
- WAPHA events calendar
Resources - Commissioning policies and procedures
- Our services webpage
Access to previous edition General Manager's foreword
All Western Australians, no matter their postcode or their circumstances, deserve access to quality and affordable mental health care and support.
This month, we are launching Make the call on your mental health today, a campaign to raise awareness of Head to Health 1800 595 212, a free, national mental health phone line, available statewide in WA.
Head to Health offers confidential assessment and referral for anyone seeking help for their mental and emotional wellbeing and/or wanting to support a patient, or someone they care about. No appointment is needed, and referrals are not required.
The campaign will be active throughout 2024, using a mix of media channels, including keyword search, social and radio. Initially, it will target communities within Swan, Armadale, Goldfields-Esperance and Bunbury-Manjimup regions, some of which have a Head to Health centre and all of which have been identified as having a high need for mental health care.
As a result of the campaign, you may experience an increase in presentations to your service. You may also wish to gain a better understanding of the IAR-DST tool, which Head to Health clinicians use to support navigation to the right service for the caller.
Part of the wider Head to Health system, including the Head to Health website and Head to Health centres, the Head to Health phone line is an important gateway to mental health advice and support for Western Australians.
Mark Cockayne Executive General Manager Commissioned Services Procurement and Contracting WAPHA Senior Contract Manager Matt Hunt has recently resigned his role of Senior Contract Manager at WA Primary Health Alliance (WAPHA), overseeing the procurement and contracts team functions. During this time many of you will have had interaction(s) with Matt, and I am sure will have valued the honest and down to earth conversations, with a focus on understanding and supporting provider organisation needs.
We wish Matt all the best in next stage of his life and career.
We will be going to market in the near future to recruit to this critical leadership position here at WAPHA.
Jody Niven will act in the role during this timeframe, and we appreciate your support and consideration of the current workload requirements that are presently impacting this team.
For any queries please reach out to the Executive General Manager Commissioned Services, Mark Cockayne. Local consultation to inform the Pilbara mental health service
Anglicare WA will carry out a comprehensive planning and consultation process to inform a robust service delivery model for the Integrated Primary Mental Health Care service in the Pilbara.
This preparatory work will ensure the service can respond to local need in a remote location, considering the context and complexities of the Pilbara, and deliver the best mental health outcomes for the region.
Current operator of the service, Mission Australia, has been supporting all existing patients to transition out of the service, source alternative supports or refer them back to their GP.
In the interim, GPs in the Pilbara can refer patients needing mental health support via the Head to Health phone line on 1800 595 212, Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5pm. This can be done while the patient is with the GP and the Head to Health intake clinician will organise to complete the assessment with the patient at a time that suits them.
People can also contact the Head to Health phone line directly, for guidance and support to access mental health treatment. Head to Health services are free and available to everyone, with more information available at www.headtohealth.gov.au.
Read more Extension of funding for Integrated Team Care program and Indigenous Mental Health Services
The Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care has confirmed a one-year extension of current funding arrangements for the Integrated Team Care (ITC) program and Mental Health Services for First Nations people to 30 June 2025.
This will allow more time for the Department’s consideration of the recommendations of the Final Report for the Review of Sector Funding Arrangements and Service Provider Capability for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Services and the ITC Program, including engagement with the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health sector, PHNs and other key stakeholders.
The Department’s aim is to ensure the continued provision of quality primary health care to First Nations clients through both programs, and the smooth transition to any potential new arrangements.
We acknowledge this decision provides only short-term certainty for our current commissioned service providers and we are sensitive to the challenges that will ensue.
WAPHA remains committed to Closing the Gap and working with the Aboriginal community controlled health sector and the wider health sector to build capacity and effect the changes necessary to improve health outcomes for Aboriginal people. Early Tender Advice - Supporting Primary Care Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence Pilot - Perth South PHN
The Request for Tender for the Supporting Primary Care Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence (FDSV) Pilot– Perth South PHN is expected to be released in early 2024.
The program will enhance the capability general practice teams to identify patients and families being affected by FDSV and connecting them to vital FDSV services, and will involve working with key stakeholders including service providers, peak advisory bodies and people with lived experience.
Find out more about how WAPHA is supporting an effective primary care response to family, domestic and sexual violence.
Subscribe to receive notification of WAPHA tenders. Strategic update Unleashing the Potential of our Health Workforce: Scope of Practice Review
Last October, WAPHA provided feedback on the Scope of Practice Review. The Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care released the first Issues Paper on 23 January 2024, which provides an overview of the evidence and emerging themes from literature review and stakeholder consultation and analysis.
These include: - Legislation and regulation – where legislation or regulation authorise or inhibit health professionals in performing a particular activity.
- Employer practices and settings – service-level practices and settings which influence health professionals’ ability to work to full scope of practice, including credentialling, role design, and employment models.
- Education and training – pre- and post-professional entry learning and qualifications, including professional entry requirements and opportunities for professional development, mentoring, supervision and upskilling, and interprofessional learning.
- Funding policy – the way funding and payment is provided for delivery of health care.
- Technology – integrated and accessible digital tools, communication and information sharing.
Public submissions are now invited for stakeholders to provide written responses to the themes and consultation questions raised in this Issues Paper. Submissions close 8 March 2024.
General Information Nominations now open for WAPHA's Aboriginal Stakeholder Reference Group
Reflecting our vision of better health, together, WAPHA is committed to commissioning and advocating for safe, inclusive and culturally appropriate practices and services for Aboriginal people and communities, and all our staff and stakeholders.
As part of maturing our priority focus on cultural competence, inclusion and diversity, WAPHA is establishing an Aboriginal Stakeholder Reference Group to inform, guide and support our work.
We are calling for expression of interests from experts in the field of Aboriginal health service delivery and those with lived experience to provide feedback and inform a range of activities and initiatives to improve and strengthen WAPHA’s inclusive practices.
Find out more or express your interest here.
Expression of interest for WAPHA's Service Provider Panel now open
In 2022 WAPHA established its Service Provider Panel to ensure ongoing and direct engagement with contracted service provider organisations enabling discussion of priority topics, actions and change related to commissioning practice.
Since inception, the Panel has met four times to discuss topics such as cultural competency, indexation, procurement processes and digital health. Read the full summaries here. Expressions of interest to join the Panel are welcomed from the CEO (or their delegate) of all commissioned service provider organisations with a current contract with WAPHA.
Panel members are engaged in a range of ways throughout the year as commissioning related projects and initiatives are designed, developed, and implemented. Topics for discussion and dates are scheduled in advance, and panel members provide topics of interest, and also attend sessions on topics of interest and relevance to them and their organisation.
This flexible approach aligns to WAPHA’s Stakeholder Engagement Framework ensuring meetings operate in a consult and collaborate level, targeted to member’s needs.
Express your interest here by 12pm Friday 8 March 2024 and a member of WAPHA’s stakeholder engagement team will be in touch. Working Better for Medicare review
As part of the Department of Health and Aged Care’s 2023-24 Strengthening Medicare budget measures, the Working Better for Medicare Review is examining how health workforce is distributed across the country and determining how current systems can be strengthened to make it easier to see a doctor, nurse or other health worker in Australia.
The Review is looking at Medicare’s role in locating the workforce, as well as the three main policy levers used to distribute the workforce, the Modified Monash Model, District of Workforce Shortage, and Distribution Priority Area.
As part of the National PHN Working Group, WAPHA is actively contributing to the review.
Interested stakeholders including members of the public, healthcare professionals, peak bodies, colleges or other organisations, are invited to provide a written submission via an online survey by the 1 March 2024.
Targeted workshops with key stakeholders are also planned throughout the review, with findings expected to be provided to government in mid-2024. Forecast grant opportunity for alcohol and other drug treatment services
This grant opportunity is available to develop community-led design and delivery of alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment services in regional areas including East Kimberley and the Goldfields.
The intended outcomes of the grant opportunity are: - Improved access to needs based, community led, holistic and culturally safe AOD.
- Treatment and related programs and services in the four regions.
- Reduced harms associated with AOD use in the four regions.
- Access to safe and accessible AOD treatment services through fit-for-purpose health.
- Infrastructure.
- Recruitment and retention of health professionals.
Funding of up to $49 million (GST exclusive) will be distributed to implement this project over an initial period of two years, with the option to extend for a further two years at the discretion of Commonwealth.
Read more Digital Health Blueprint and Action Plan 2023-2033
The Australian Government’s Digital Health Blueprint 2023-2033 outlines a ten-year vision for Australia’s digital health to continue providing a more connected and sustainable health system.
The Blueprint defines the approach for how the design of digital and data reforms will: - Ensure health information follows patients through the health system, so they can actively participate in, and make informed decisions about, their care.
- Enable our world-class healthcare professionals to access a joined up, real-time view of their patients’ health information at the point of care.
- Make our health system more responsive to emerging technologies, while ensuring the safe and secure use of health data.
Read more Health Professionals Networks - Connecting health professionals in regional WA
WAPHA is proud to announce its ongoing partnership of WA’s Health Professionals Networks designed to provide rural and remote health professional with support, opportunities to network, upskill, share information and collaborate in local, supportive community environments.
Health Professional Networks have been established in each of the seven country WA regions and have four key priorities, member experience and wellbeing, sustainability, collaboration and the future. The partnership is a collaboration between WAPHA, Rural Health West, WA Country Health Service and The Rural Clinical School of WA. There are over 3,400 members across the seven regions and membership continues to grow.
WAPHA looks forward to continuing state-wide collaboration including discussing ongoing opportunities, and continuing to increase engagement and inclusion of GPs, allied health professionals, and with WAPHA service providers. Identifying and supporting patients experiencing food insecurity
For some, accessing sufficient food to eat can be a daily or weekly struggle. In 2023, 36 per cent of Australian households experienced moderate to severe food insecurity. People who are food insecure may experience stress, skip meals, and consume nutritionally inadequate food.
GPs and other primary healthcare professionals play an important role in identifying and treating the consequences of food insecurity which include physical, social and emotional ramifications, and increased risks for chronic diseases.
Visit SHAPE to access a range of resources on identifying food insecurity and the support options available to your patients.
News and Media Broome Medicare Urgent Care Clinic opens
The seventh Medicare Urgent Care Clinic for Western Australia opened in Broome on 28 December 2023. In developing the model of care, WAPHA consulted local stakeholders to ensure local workforce challenges were taken into consideration. WAPHA ensured that the nuances of the Broome health sector, and the unique community needs were advocated to the Australian Government and reflected in the operational requirements.
The result is an innovative and sustainable mode of care, including in person and, if required, telehealth consultations that will ensure patients can access the clinic seven days a week and receive high quality urgent care.
Read more Training and events
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