MPHN appears before Special Commission of Inquiry

Yesterday, Tuesday 19 March 2024, MPHN’s Acting CEO Narelle Mills, and Senior Advisor – Policy, Strategy and Innovation Melissa Neal, appeared before the Special Commission of Inquiry into Healthcare Funding in Wagga Wagga.

The Inquiry hearings are being held all week, and MPHN Acting CEO Narelle Mills welcomed the opportunity to provide evidence to the Inquiry.

‘It’s pleasing the Inquiry made the effort to hold hearings in Wagga Wagga and listen to those living and working in the Murrumbidgee,’ Ms Mills said.

‘As an organisation focussed on supporting primary care providers across the region, we have a role in improving coordination of care, commissioning primary care services to meet local population health needs, and supporting capacity building to ensure a sustainable workforce.

‘Key to being able to deliver on this is working collaboratively with Murrumbidgee Local Health District. Our strong partnership with MLHD, which is formalised through a Collaborative Agreement at the Board level, enables us to strengthen service delivery in the region and move towards a one health system approach,’ she said.

Workforce challenges in the region were also highlighted.

‘While we recognise emergency departments can become the default primary care provider in regional and rural areas due to limited or no access to general practitioners (GPs), more work needs to be done to ensure communities can access primary healthcare providers when they need to,’ Ms Mills said.

‘The delivery of general practice and primary care related services through state funding should only be considered where there is market failure with a focus on restoring services to community to avoid impacting the sustainability of local general practice.’

Ms Mills discussed with the Inquiry the importance of timely communication between the hospital and a person’s GP after a stay in hospital, to ensure appropriate follow up by the primary care team.

‘Data shows that patients who visit their GP within two days of discharge results in 32 percent fewer readmissions within the first week, and a visit in the first four weeks results in seven percent fewer readmissions within 28 days,’ she said.

MPHN’s Senior Advisor, who served as CEO until February this year, said there are other opportunities to be innovative and partner under a more formalised approach.

‘The siloed nature of healthcare funding between acute and primary healthcare settings, and federal and state funding responsibilities, becomes more evident and relevant in regional areas such as the Murrumbidgee region,’ Ms Neal said.

‘Joint funding opportunities help avoid service duplication and optimise use of resources where possible to ensure regional needs are met.

‘For example, Primary Health Networks nationally are tasked with understanding the needs of local communities and use this to inform our work including the commissioning of services. Similarly, Local Health Districts also work to understand health needs to plan services.

‘There are opportunities to strengthen regional planning approaches through joint needs assessments and planning, and MPHN and MLHD are progressing the development of a joint regional planning framework for the Murrumbidgee region as part of the work with the Murrumbidgee Health and Knowledge Precinct.’

For more information about the Special Commission of Inquiry into Healthcare Funding, visit healthcarefunding.specialcommission.nsw.gov.au