Primary Health Care Reform in Australia - Report to Support Australia’s First National Primary Health Care Strategy

Attachment A - Stakeholder consultation

External Reference Group (ERG)

On 11 June 2008 the Hon Nicola Roxon MP, Minister for Health and Ageing, announced the appointment of an External Reference Group (ERG) to assist in the development of the Draft National Primary Health Care Strategy.

Membership

The ERG, chaired by Dr Tony Hobbs, is non-representational, with members of the group contributing on the basis of their personal experience and expertise. The ERG includes a range of primary health care experts from around Australia, including a pharmacist, a midwife/birth reform advocate, a physiotherapist, a psychologist, a general practice nurse, a consumer representative, primary health care academics and strong representation from general practice including those with Indigenous, rural and remote experience. A list of ERG members is included in Table 12.

Terms of Reference

The ERG was asked to work closely with the Australian Government to develop the Draft Strategy, including:
  • providing expert input on primary health care issues being considered as part of the development of the Strategy;
  • reviewing and commenting on information relating to the Strategy prior to release for broader consultation; and
  • assisting the Department in the analysis of, and responses to, the range of comments which may be received from broader consultation processes.

Modus Operandi

The Department of Health and Ageing provided secretariat support to the ERG, including high level administrative support for the Chair, Dr Tony Hobbs.

The ERG met 10 times between July 2008 and June 2009 with eight face-to-face meetings. At the earlier meetings, the Group spent considerable time canvassing the key issues that needed to be considered in the development of the Draft Strategy. Subsequent ERG meetings allowed discussion on the development of the Discussion Paper and the Draft Strategy.

To further inform the ERG’s consideration, a number of guest speakers were invited to attend ERG meetings, including representatives from the Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association, Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses, National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, National E-Health Transition Authority, National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission, National Health & Medical Research Council and the National Preventative Health Taskforce.

The ERG Chair, Dr Tony Hobbs, represented the ERG in many forums, including conferences and seminars. In addition to providing updates on the progress of the Draft Strategy development, Dr Hobbs also used these occasions to seek stakeholder views and input.

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Table 12: ERG Members

CHAIR:

Dr Tony Hobbs
Dr Hobbs is a GP Obstetrician at Cootamundra in the NSW Riverina district, where he has promoted an innovative model for integrated primary care. He is also the Immediate Past Chair of the Australian General Practice Network.

MEMBERS:

Mr Peter Fazey
Mr Fazey is a specialist musculoskeletal physiotherapist. He has worked primarily in private practice for 25 years and is currently a lecturer in manual therapy and the clinical programs coordinator at the University of Western Australia, Centre for Musculoskeletal Studies. Mr Fazey is also the Immediate Past President of the Australian Physiotherapy Association and a Fellow of the Australian College of Physiotherapists.

Professor Mark Harris
Professor Harris is a leader of primary health care research in Australia with a broad range of interests, including health system development, especially integration of health services (within primary health care and between primary and secondary care), and the prevention and management of chronic diseases especially diabetes and cardiovascular disease. He is also a Professor of General Practice at the University of NSW.

Associate Professor Noel Hayman
Associate Professor Hayman is the Clinical Director of the Inala Indigenous Health Service in Brisbane. His interests include primary health care access and service delivery in Indigenous communities, especially improving the access of Indigenous people to mainstream health services and medical education. He is also the Secretary of the Australian Indigenous Doctors Association.

Professor Claire Jackson
Professor Jackson’s interests include health service integration, models of primary care and governance. She practises in Inala Queensland and has had general practice experience in urban and rural Australia and overseas. Prof Jackson is also a Professor in General Practice and Primary Health Care at the University of Queensland.

Ms Judy Liauw
Ms Liauw is a community pharmacist. She has been the Director and Manager of Westside Pharmacy, Ulverstone, Tasmania since 1985. Ms Liauw is a National Councillor on the Pharmacy Guild of Australia and holds other positions including the Chair of the Guild’s Women and Young Pharmacists Committee. She is also a Member of the Pharmacy Board of Tasmania and the Chair of the Australian Association of Consultant Pharmacy from July 2008.
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Professor Lyn Littlefield OAM
Professor Littlefield is a clinical psychologist with over 20 years of experience as a clinical academic and in mental health in hospital and community settings. She has devoted much time in working towards improving health, and particularly mental health and services in these areas. Prof Littlefield is the Executive Director of the Australian Psychological Society and the Honorary Executive Officer of Allied Health Professions of Australia. She was previously the Head of the School of Psychological Science at La Trobe University and the inaugural Director of the Victorian Parenting Centre.

Ms Anne Matyear
Ms Matyear is a general practice nurse. Her interests include optimising the role of nurses in general practice and increasing the contribution of general practice nursing in the formulation of public health policy. Ms Matyear is the current President of the Australian Practice Nurses Association and a Member of the Board of Directors at the Ipswich and West Moreton Division of General Practice.

Mr Mitch Messer
Mr Messer has made a strong contribution to Australian health care over many years as a consumer representative. He is a consumer member of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee and a former member of the Governing Committee of the Consumers’ Health Forum of Australia. He is also a founding member and current Chairperson of the Genetic Support Council of WA (Inc.), President of Cystic Fibrosis Australia and Worldwide, and a Trustee of the Australian Cystic Fibrosis Research Trust.

Dr Rod Pearce
Dr Pearce is a general practitioner who has been an advisor for the last 20 years to local, state and federal governments on general practice issues. Dr Pearce continues his involvement with many local and national committees including Australian General Practice Accreditation Limited, and Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation. He is also the current Federal Chairman of the Australian Medical Association Council of General Practice.

Dr Vasantha Preetham
Dr Preetham is a practising GP in Perth, Western Australia. She was invited to contribute to the discussion around developing a long term national health strategy at the Prime Minister's Australia 2020 Summit in Canberra in April 2008. Dr Preetham is also the Immediate Past President of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.

Professor Hal Swerissen
Professor Swerissen is an expert on health policy with an extensive research record in the design and development of primary health and community services. Prof Swerissen is currently the Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences and Professor of Public Health at La Trobe University and is also the Australian Institute for Primary Care’s Director of Research and Development.

Dr Barbara Vernon
Dr Vernon is an Australian birth reform advocate with a strong interest in improved provision of maternity services, particularly enhancing women’s access to primary care by midwives. She is also the Executive Officer of the Australian College of Midwives.
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The Consultation Process

Consultations comprised a call for written submissions and meetings (both formal and informal) with stakeholders, including with senior state and territory government officials.

Discussion Paper

On 30 October 2008, Minister Roxon released the publication Towards a National Primary Health Care Strategy: A Discussion Paper from the Australian Government.

The Discussion Paper was structured around 10 proposed key Elements of an enhanced primary health care system and canvassed a wide range of important issues. For each Element, the Discussion Paper described the current situation and what this means for consumers and health care practitioners, with a focus on identifying major issues that would need to be addressed in the development of the Draft Strategy. The Paper also set out a series of questions to assist individuals and groups to structure their input and invited comment through written submissions, by the end of February 2009.

265 written submissions were received from a wide range of interested individuals and organisations, including professional associations, academic institutions, non-government organisations and consumers of primary health care, as well as state and territory governments. A list of submissions is provided in Table 13.

Stakeholder submissions were published on the Department of Health and Ageing website at: http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/primaryhealthstrategy-submissions. To ensure that the privacy of third parties, private contact details (eg, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses) contained in submissions were removed.

Other Consultation

A National Primary Health Care Strategy Cross Jurisdictional Group (NPHCS CJG) comprising senior health department officials from each state and territory, with experience in primary health care, was convened as a mechanism for consultation with the jurisdictions during the development of the Draft Strategy. The NPHCS CJG met on two occasions, providing a forum for high level consideration of issues being considered as part of the Draft Strategy development.

The Department also drew upon the submissions provided to the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission (NHHRC) and the National Preventative Health Taskforce. The views of stakeholders are reflected throughout the Report.
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Table 13: List of Submitters

A list of stakeholders who made written submissions on the Discussion Paper: Towards a National Primary Health Care Strategy is included below. Note that submissions numbers 6, 11, 102 and 114 were classified by the authors as confidential and as such, were not published on the Department of Health and Ageing website or made available to the public.

Number

Submitter Name

001S. Downs
002Health Workforce Queensland
003Healthlink Family Medical Centres
004I. Linwood
005R. Currie
007I. Esslemont
008Hastings Macleay General Practice Network
009B. Vanrenen
010Silver Chain
012C. Boyle
013L. Kelly
014P. Lake
015E. Pica
016M. Light
017GP Partners Adelaide
018G. Birch
019South West Healthcare Primary and Community Services Division
020Legacy Coordinating Council
021Cochrane Consumer Network
022G. Pettigrove
023GP Connections
024Goulburn Valley General Practice
025The School of Nursing and Midwifery, The University of Queensland
026Dieticians Association of Australia
027South Australian Refugee Health Network
028East Gippsland Primary Care Partnership
029G21 Geelong Region Alliance
030AFS Friendly Care Pharmacy
031One Health Organisation
032P. Smith
033National Indigenous Health Equality Council
034Board of Hastings Macleay General Practice Network
035Blue Care Community Services
036Melbourne East GP Network
037Central Victorian Health Alliance
038Australian Association for Academic General Practice
039Shire GPs
040Barossa Division of General Practice
041Country Women's Association of New South Wales
042Royal Flying Doctor Service, Central Operations
043South Australian Government
044National and NSW Councils and Australian Association of Developmental Disability Medicine
045The Salvation Army Crisis Services
046Menzies School of Health Research
047Women's Choice
048G. Emblen
049Metro North Health Service District
050Aboriginal Health Council of South Australia
051Australian Medical Association
052Youth Health Research Interest Group
053Church Resources
054Murray Plains Division of General Practice
055Central Coast Division of General Practice
056R. Hewitt
057Health Inequalities Research Collaboration Primary Health Care Network
058Refugee Health Network Australia
059Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses
060Darebin Community Health
061W. Dean
062General Practice Network South
063Brooke Street Medical Centre
064Health Care Consumers Association of the ACT
065West Vic Division of General Practice
066Victorian Association of Maternal and Child Health Nurses
067Eastern Access Community Health
068National Health Call Centre Network
069C. Regan
070Point of Care Testing in General Practice, The University of Adelaide
071Australian College of Midwives
072Bayside General Practice Network
073J. Radford
074Australian Unity
075The Australian Health Workforce Institute
076GP Access and Illawarra Division of General Practice
077Statewide PCPs Chairs' Executive
078Primary Health Care Research Evaluation and Development
079Primary and Community Health Network Victoria
080Association of Chief Executives for Australian General Practice Training
081National Rural Health Alliance
082Planning for a Healthier North Regional Health Consortium
083Northern Health Primary Care and Population Health Advisory Committee
084Ipswich and West Moreton Division of General Practice
085National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre
086Dandenong Casey General Practice Association
087Services for Australian Rural and Remote Allied Health
088Australian Association for Exercise and Sports Science
089Refugee Primary Health Care Research Centre
090Clinical Solutions
091South East Alliance of General Practice Brisbane
092Reflexology Association of Australia
093Maharishi Institute of Public Health and Wellbeing
094International Foot and Shoe Clinic
095Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care
096North West Slopes Division of General Practice
097Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia
098Brimbank City Council
099Primary Health Care Research and Information Service
100Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association
101Wyeth Australia
103National Prescribing Service
104Australian College of Nurse Practitioners
105Department of General Practice, University of Melbourne
106Children's Hospitals Australasia
107General Practice Gold Coast
108South Australian Community Health Research Unit
109Eastern Ranges GP Association
110Bentleigh Bayside Community Health Service
111Health West Partnership
112C. Blok
113National Coalition of Public Pathology
115K. Nemeth
116Women's Health Victoria
117Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council
118St Vincent's Hospital
119Australian Dental Association
120Greater Green Triangle GP Education and Training
121G. Miller
122Australian Naturopathic Practitioners Association
123Australian Physiotherapy Association
124Heart Foundation
125Western Region Health Centre
126NE Victorian Division of General Practice
127Royal College of Nursing, Australia
128SHine SA
129GP down south
130Speech Pathology Australia
131Pfizer Australia
132Public Health Association of Australia, Australian Health Promotion Association and South Australian Health Literacy Alliance
133Palliative Care Australia
134Royal District Nursing Service
135Office of the Public Advocate, Queensland
136The Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia
137C. Jones
138Public Health Association of Australia
139Apunipima Cape York Health Council
140National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation
141Australian General Practice Network
142Doctors Reform Society
143A. Gilbert
144Health Issues Centre
145General Practice Tasmania
146General Practice SA
147Department of Health WA
148Anglicare Aged Care SA
149National Primary Health Care Partnership
150National Stroke Foundation
151Dementia Advisory Group
152Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia
153Private Mental Health Consumer Carer Network (Australia)
154Victorian Refugee Health Network
155Fremantle GP Network
156Anex
157C. Joyce
158The George Institute
159Primary Care Research Unit, University of Melbourne
160RWM Consultancy
161Monash Division of General Practice
162Vision 2020 Australia
163Women's Health West
164Australian and New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine
165North Sydney General Practice Network
166GP Access
167National Health and Medical Research Council
168Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity, University of NSW
169Consumers Health Forum of Australia
170Cancer Council of Australia and Clinical Oncological Society of Australia
171Australian Association of Consultant Pharmacy
172The Victorian Healthcare Association
173The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
174Alzheimer's Australia
175Hospital-In-The-Home Society Australasia
176Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association
177GlaxoSmithKline
178The Pharmacy Guild of Australia
179LaTrobe Community Health Service
180ACT Health
181Australasian Society for HIV Medicine
182Brisbane South Division of General Practice
183Uniting Care Burnside
184Close the Gap Steering Committee for Indigenous Health Equality
185C. Chapman, J. Marriott and L. Emmerton
186Perth Primary Care Network
187NSW Government
188Capricornia Division of General Practice
189Mallee Division of General Practice
190D. Davie
191Psychologists Association, South Australian Branch
192Central Sydney GP Network
193Australian Association of Consultant Physicians
194Medibank Private
195C. Holland
196Australian Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance
197Australian Diabetes Educators Association
198General Practice Victoria
199Western Australian General Practice Network
200Australian Nursing Federation
201AusPharm
202Australian Association of Practice Managers
203Australian Practice Nurses Association
204Northern Territory Department of Health and Families
205J. Gibson
206I. Charlton
207Inner South East Partnership in Community and Health Executive Committee
208General Practice NSW
209Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations
210Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance of the Northern Territory
211GP Links Wide Bay
212Australian Health Care Reform Alliance
213GPpartners
214Australian College of Podiatric Surgeons
215L. Nevell
216Rural Doctors Association of Victoria
217Health and Community Services Workforce Council
218Health Consumers Alliance of South Australia
219Australian Health Promotion Association
220Australian Association of Pathology Practices
221Dental Health Services Victoria
222Pharmaceutical Society of Australia
223Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
224Australian Self-Medication Industry
225Greater Green Triangle University, Department of Rural Health
226Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute
227Maribyrnong City Council
228Carers Australia
229Australian Indigenous Doctors' Association
230WA Country Health Service
231Australian Psychological Society
232Allied Health Professions Australia
233Southern General Practice Network
234Revive Clinic
235Rural Health West
236Rural Workforce Agency Victoria
237Drug and Alcohol Office Western Australia
238B. Carew and C. Palmer
239Australasian Podiatry Council
240Riverina Division of General Practice and Primary Health
241Australian Indigenous Psychologists Association
242Department of Health and Human Services Tasmania
243G. Cranfield
244Psychiatric Disability Services of Victoria
245Sunshine Coast Division of General Practice
246Bogong Regional Training Network
247Rural Health Workforce Australia
248Catholic Health Australia
249Australian Pedorthic Medical Grade Footwear Association
250Headspace
251Women's Hospitals Australasia
252Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council
253The Royal Australasian College of Physicians
254Australian Women's Health Network
255Australian Orthotic and Prosthetic Association
256Pain Management Research Institute
257B. Mullings
258Optometrists Association of Australia
259Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine, General Practice Education and Training, General Practice Registrars Australia and Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
260Cerebral Palsy League of Queensland
261North Coast Area Health Advisory Council
262Rural Doctors Association of Australia
263Australian Osteopathic Association
264Queensland Health
265Sunshine Coast Division of General Practice – Consumer Panel
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Page last updated 31 August, 2009