Priority Three - Improve people’s experience of primary health care Priority Three

Strategies

• Support general practice as the cornerstone of primary health care

• Aim to keep people well and out of hospital by supporting primary health providers

• Engage with communities and embrace local voices as a conduit for advocacy and feedback

• Develop and share meaningful insights to enhance evidence-based decision making

Improving people’s experience of primary health care is intrinsically linked to Country SA PHN’s vision of better health and wellbeing for all country South Australians.

We constantly strive toward this vision and priority by engaging with our communities and supporting primary health care providers. Working collaboratively across jurisdictions is essential to achieving this aim. Country SA PHN works with commissioned service providers to enhance regional South Australians’ experiences of primary health care, accounting for the challenges involved in accessing supports in South Australia’s rural and remote communities.

Barossa Fleurieu Youth Clinical Care & Coordination (Youth CCC)

Country SA PHN’s Needs Assessment 2022-25 highlighted particularly high levels of psychological distress in the Barossa Hills Fleurieu region compared with other regions of country South Australia. The Needs Assessment further identified that demand was outstripping supply for youth services - resulting in young people remaining on waitlists for extended periods for other community-based services.

Country SA PHN engaged collaboratively with youth services in the region to discuss solutions. Following these discussions, Country SA PHN commissioned the Barossa Hills Fleurieu Local Health Network (LHN) to provide the Youth CCC service. A Youth Brief Intervention Clinician role was created within the Adelaide Hills Community Mental Health Team, with the State Funded Mental Health Team and Country SA PHN funded Mount Barker headspace working closely to coordinate this care.

Throughout 2023-24 and beyond the Barossa Hills Fleurieu LHN provided wrap around, coordinated care to eligible young people (16-24 years old and living with complex mental health needs). Operating without a waitlist, a senior clinician uses their expertise to identify and address longer term issues that may require an alternative model of care and can also refer people to other services as appropriate. As this clinician works within the SA Health system, they have strong connections with the state Mental Health team and other relevant youth specific services such as a Country SA PHN funded headspace centre. These strong relationships, in addition to the unique model of care coordination, assist in improving clients’ overall experience of the health system, helping where appropriate to prevent people from entering the hospital system.

These services support early identification and integrated treatment in the community, as well as increased access to responsive communitybased treatment options for those at-risk of severe mental illness. Locating Youth CCC services within primary care also has the advantage of being able to provide more accessible, recovery-focused care.

863 sessions were provided with 118 young people receiving clinical service.

Looking ahead

In addition to commissioning this vital youth mental health service, Country SA PHN also engages and collaborates with the Barossa Hills Fleurieu LHN to discuss the interconnection of youth mental health services in the region. This service has demonstrated its capacity to bridge the gap for young people in the Barossa, Hills, Fleurieu region. Country SA PHN is pleased to have commissioned this service for another financial year to support the mental health needs of young people in this region strongly aligning with our strategic plan - helping us work toward better health equity for country South Australian communities.

Program activities building connection to Country

• Ngarrindjeri-led Coorong (Kurrungk) boat trip, where young people connected to Country by exploring the local area and engaging with a Ngarrindjeri Elder. The group visited sacred sites and shared stories.

• First Nations youth celebration, hosted in collaboration with Moorundi Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service and AC Care. This event facilitated celebration and appreciation of culture and sharing of stories, while providing an opportunity for community engagement and artistic expression.

• Art workshops with young people were held in Meningie, resulting in a new mural at a local skate park. These workshops focused on Indigenous art techniques, as well as cultural symbolism.

Building Connection to Country on Ngarrindjeri Lands

Aboriginal Health is one of seven key priority areas for PHN’s across Australia. Bridging the gap in health inequity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in country South Australia is a central component of Country SA PHNs daily activity. This lens is applied across the organization and imbedded in our Strategic Plan. Providing access to culturally appropriate services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on Country is a crucial way we support communities to access quality primary health care.

An example is the Targeted Psychosocial Services that Country SA PHN commission iReach to deliver for Aboriginal Young People living on the Ngarrindjeri Lands. The program runs cultural camps for young people 16 years and over experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, severe mental illness. Staff engage with young people who attend the camps, as well as connecting with young people during community engagement activities held in conjunction with headspace Murray Bridge.

Relationship building activities held throughout 2023-24 resulted in excellent camp attendance and high levels of participation and engagement.

Country SA PHN collaborates with and supports our commissioned service providers throughout activity implementation. We work side by side with our commissioned providers to gather learnings and local insights from program delivery and to assist where appropriate to strengthen and optimise future service delivery. This ensures the services we commission meet our priority to commission effective and efficient services that deliver health equity.

Community Advisory Committees

Embracing local voices through our Community Advisory Committees (CAC) is critical to Country SA PHN’s priority of improving people’s experience of primary health care.

CACs engage with the community to ensure commissioned services are patient centred, cost effective, locally relevant, and aligned to existing local care.

The CACs meet regularly, providing an opportunity to gather a range of information on local health needs and issues affecting the community. CAC members bring a range of local and professional skills to contribute to an effective committee environment. Country SA PHN values the experience and knowledge CACs provide as well as their contribution to positively impact the health and wellbeing of their local communities.

In November 2023 Country SA PHN’s Strategic Engagement team facilitated a Community Advisory Committee Forum with representation from across the CAC network. Our Community Advisory Committees are:

• Barossa Local Health Cluster

• Far West Local Health Cluster

• Fleurieu Region Community Services Advisory Committee

• Limestone Coast Community Services Roundtable

• Lower Eyre Local Health Cluster

• Mid North Local Health Cluster

• Riverland Community Services Alliance

• Roxby Downs Health Forum

• Upper Eyre Local Health Cluster

The opportunity to gather face to face is important for Country SA PHN and our CACs as the committees represent regions across country South Australia. It was beneficial to come together to share information and learn from each other’s experiences.

Country SA PHN staff members engaged with our CACs on the organisation’s commissioning process and increased awareness around our portfolios including the work done for Health System Innovation and Integration and with Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drugs.

The forum also provided the opportunity for the CACs representatives to engage with Country SA PHN Board Chair and members, Chief Executive Officer, and Executives.

This strong community engagement highlights just one example of how we apply the Strategic Plan priorities and strategies toward better health equity for country South Australians.

Collaboration throughout the day among the CACs and Country SA PHN led to the formation of the following shared goals

• Purpose

  Foster a shared vision of purpose that reflects the Strategic Plan priorities of Country SA PHN

• Reach

  Encourage the Community Advisory Committees to remain connected and communicate with their membership base

• Communication

  Efficient sharing of Community Advisory Committees activities and Country SA PHN programs of work

• Empower

  Encourage the Community Advisory Committees to strengthen their independent governance and sustainability

The opportunity to gather face to face is important for Country SA PHN and our CACs as the committees represent regions across country South Australia. It was beneficial to come together to share information and learn from each other’s experiences.

Supporting primary care workforce

Another direct way that Country SA PHN supports our Strategic Plan’s third priority - improving country South Australians’ experience of primary healthcare – is supporting those working in primary health, in particular, general practices to provide their communities with quality care. Throughout 2023-24 Country SA PHN has supported primary health care providers in a myriad of ways.

The Primary Care and Digital Support team established a monthly remote Practice Manager Network meeting in 2021 in response to the cessation of face-to-face visiting during COVID-19. On request, a Practice Nurse network meeting commenced in April 2024 and was well attended by nurses from all regions of country South Australia.

Both the practice manager and nurse meetings are informal and provide the opportunity for practice staff to exchange information, receive Country SA PHN updates of current activities and to network with practice staff from different regions. The sharing of information and links from the meetings are provided to all practices if staff are unable to attend.

Information provided in the sessions include:

• Country SA PHN current activities

• Quality Improvement activities

• Digital Health updates

• Accreditation

• Immunisation

• Emergency Response Planning Tool

• GoShare activities

• Initial Assessment and Referral

• National Cancer Screening

• Country SA PHN educational events

• Health literacy

• Open discussion (Question and Answer) session

Primary care and digital health team activities

A key component of the support that the Primary Care and Digital Health Team provide is regular face to face visits to all general practices throughout country South Australia. These visits provide an invaluable opportunity to support general practices in their own environment and allows them to continue to provide their core function of providing primary health care to their communities. During these practice visits our team offers support in digital health, quality improvement and GoShare activities.

Country SA PHN commissions Doctors’ Health SA to provide the Healthy Doctors program. These events provide updates on the latest services and support for country South Australian doctors as well as the sharing of insights into maintaining wellbeing and productivity while working. The program also offers networking opportunities among those working in general practice right across country South Australia.

Encouraging and facilitating strong connections among primary healthcare professionals is crucial for increased collaboration across the geographically distanced and diverse regions of country South Australia. Country SA PHN is proud to support primary health care professionals to provide quality health care for their communities.

Digital Health

• PRODA – Health Professionals Online Services Support, Organisation setup, Practice Incentive Payments, MyMedicare, Australian Immunisation Register, National Authentication Service for Health renewal, Australian General Practice Training Program

• Telehealth - Health Direct

• Electronic Prescriptions

• eReferrals

• Secure messaging

• Provider Connect Australia

• General Practice Aged Care Incentives

• My Health Record, My Health App, Shared Health Summaries

Quality Improvement

• Data submission support

• PenCat support

• Market Insights

• Plan Do Study Act cycle templates

• GoShare Plus

GoShare Activities

• Shingles

• Diabetes

• Immunisation

• Pneumococcal

• Healthy Lifestyle Program

• Cancer Screening

• Reminders and recalls for chronic disease

• COVID-19 Immunisation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

• Palliative Care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

• Quality Improvement activities