Feature
Perth North PHN Council
Chair: Dr Damien Zilm (WAPHA Director)
Country WA PHN Clinical Commissioning Committee (CCC)
Prof Geoff Riley (Chair Clinical Commissioning Committee CCC)
Chair: Prof Geoff Riley (GP former head Rural Clinical School)
Ms Gloria Sutherland (Community rep)
Dr Will Patterson (Port Kennedy GP)
Ms Nola Wolski (Community rep)
Ms Melissa Vernon (Area Health Services, AHS)
Ms Margaret Culbong (ATSI Health rep)
Dr Andrew Jamieson (WACHS Population Health Planner)
TBC (ATSI Health rep)
Dr Bret Hart (Population Health Planner)
Mr Wayne Salvage (Acting CEO AHS)
Mrs Denese Griffin (ATSI rep)
Dr Karen Murphy (Medical Director AHS)
Country WA PHN Council
Dr Neale Fong (WACHS Board Chair) Ms Melissa Vernon Delegate of CEO WACHS) Dr Andrew Jamieson (WACHS ED Medical Services)
Mr Rod Carpio (Nursing rep)
Ms Vivienne Duggin (Rural Health West)
Ms Kathryn Fitzgerald (Allied Health rep)
Ms Linda Richardson (PHN GM)
Mrs Carole Bain (Silver Chain)
Mr Anthony Masi (Pharmacist rep)
Chair: Ms Anne Russell-Brown (WAPHA Director) Dr Mike Civil (GP, Chair of CCC) Mr Tony Addiscott, (Chair of Community Engagement Committee) Prof Bryant Stokes (Board Chair AHS)
Perth North CCC Chair is Dr Mike Civil; other doctors include Dr Belinda Wozencraft & Dr Allan Pelkowitz
Dr Stephen Langford (RFDS) Prof Sandra Thompson (WACRH) Ms Linda Richardson (PHN GM)
Perth South PHN Council Chair: Dr Marcus Tan (WAPHA Director) Dr Fraser Barrie (Co-Chair of CCC)
Regional Commissioning Committees In the Goldfields, the chair is GP Dr Roy Morris; other doctors include Dr Clare Huppatz & Dr Lorin Monck. In the Great South, the chair is Dr Don Gunning; other doctors include Dr Mahesh Reddy, Dr Helen van Gessel, Dr Kristi Holloway & Dr Andrew Wenzel. In the Kimberly, the chair is Dr Sally Cornelius; other doctors include Dr Lauren Turner, Dr Kerr Wright & Prof Jeanette Ward. In the Midwest, the chair is Dr Stu Adamson; other doctors include Dr Nalini Rao, Dr Eberhard Mandishona & Dr Andrew Jamieson
Dr Gary Fernandez (Co-Chair of CCC) Mr Mitch Messer (Chair of Community Engagement Committee) Prof Dawn Bessarab (ATSI Health rep) Dr Robert McDonald (Board Chair AHS) Dr Robyn Lawrence (proxy Kate Gatti) (CEO AHS) Ms Geraldine Carter (Medical Director AHS) Ms Bernie Kenny (PHN GM)
In the Pilbara, the chair is Dr Martin Kumar; other doctors include Dr Phil Montgomery. In the South West, the chair is Dr Stephen Arthur; other doctors include Dr Michiel Mel, Dr Stephen Cohen & Dr John Pollard. In the Wheatbelt, the chair is Dr Bill Chapman; other doctors include Dr Olga Ward & Dr Tony Mylius
“Right now we can’t see beyond our current horizon. In the future it may be that private hospitals are interested in doing some work with PHNs and insurers will collaborate at that time. But there are no governance protocols in place at present that involve any private or profit agencies.”
the WAPHA board as well as delegates from the relevant area health services, while each clinical committee is chaired by a local GP. The relationship between the PHNs and the area health services is mandated and the government has made both responsible for determining which KPIs each PHN will report on.
System reform
The structure is designed to support better connection and communication between the sectors and to ensure consumers are getting the right services at the right time and in the right place. It is simple yet revolutionary!
Connecting and breaking down silos is the focus of the PHNs and their structure relies heavily on links with the local area health services. This is particularly evident in the country PHN. WAPHA’s statewide bid was audacious and critics were sceptical of its ability to deliver, especially in the vast country PHN which covers Esperance in the south to Kununurra in the north. It was previously under the remit of three Medicare Locals. The Country PHN not only has a council and a peak Clinical Commissioning Committee (CCC) but it also links to the regional health services through seven regional commissioning committees. It may look like bureaucracy on steroids but it demonstrates how seriously WAPHA is taking the criticism that it will not be able to respond adequately to local health needs in the disparate social and geographical catchments of our vast state. Each PHN council has representatives of their clinical commissioning and consumer engagement committees and a member of
MEDICAL FORUM
Procurement of services WAPHA has until July 1 to establish a competitive tender process for service delivery, though in some remote communities those services might be delivered by select tender to avoid service loss. “In the metropolitan areas we’d expect all contracts to go to an open market. We think there is a lot of interest from a suite of providers for services that MLs were providing as well as a raft of new ones. There is a lot of optimism.”
Perth South CCC Co-Chairs: Dr Fraser Barrie & Dr Gary Fernandez; other doctors include Dr Nick Waldron
costs of WAPHA, the three PHNs and seven offices in the country. The PHNs operate from the same Rivervale office as WAPHA and each share support staff. However, each PHN has its own budget and it allocates resources to its local communities as determined by each PHN council, with the WAPHA board having the judiciary duty to sign off on those projects. Service delivery is already being evaluated by the Commonwealth and Learne said that WAPHA’s academic partner Curtin University would also have a role in evaluating tenders as part of the commissioning cycle to demonstrate to the Commonwealth how the WAPHA model works. Bold new world The goodwill is starting to have positive effects. WAPHA is data sharing data with WA Health, a breakthrough in the history of Commonwealth-funded programs and the State health service.
With funding coming its way from the mental health review and the primary care taskforce into chronic and complex diseases, that optimism might be well placed.
“That’s a great foundation,” Learne said. “If we work collaboratively, we can actually make an impact on these issues but it will take compromise and goodwill from stakeholders and that may mean giving up some things in order to make it work.”
WAPHA’s budget
By Jan Hallam
The Federal Government investment is $66m, of which $12m is allocated for the operational
FEBRUARY 2016 | 19