Sustainable Health Review
Since the April 2019 release of the Sustainable Health Review (SHR) report, the DoH and HSPs have been progressing this ambitious reform agenda to create a modern healthcare system that includes actions to address prevention, brings care closer to home, and delivers equity in health outcomes. EMHS has prioritised seven SHR recommendations, in line with current EMHS strategic priorities.
Recommendation 2a
Halt the rise in obesity in WA by July 2024 and have the highest percentage of population with a healthy weight of all states in Australia by July 2029
Recommendation 3a
Reduce inequity in health outcomes and access to care with a focus on Aboriginal people and families in line with the WA Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing Framework 2015-30
Recommendation 5
Reduce the health system’s environmental footprint and ensure mitigation and adaption strategies are in place to respond to the health impacts and risks of climate change. Set ongoing targets and measures aligned with the established national and international goals
Recommendation 11a
Improve timely access to outpatient services through moving routine, non-urgent and less complex specialist outpatient services out of hospital settings in partnership with primary care
Recommendation 11b
Improve timely access to outpatient services through requiring all metropolitan HSPs to progressively provide telehealth consultations for 65% of outpatient services for country patients by July 2022
Recommendation 13
Implement models of care in the community for groups of people who are frequent presenters to hospital
Recommendation 14
Transform the approach to caring for older people by implementing models of care to support independence at home and other appropriate settings, in partnership with consumers, providers, primary care and the Commonwealth
Recommendation 23
Build a system-wide culture of courage, innovation and accountability that builds on the existing pride, compassion and professionalism of staff to support collaboration for change
A snapshot of our work to support the SHR
Recommendation 2a
EMHS progressed 28 actions in the EMHS Obesity Prevention Strategy 2020-25 (strategy), which included:
- advanced Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) to upskill health professionals in nutrition communication skills
- contributed to the multi-agency Fair Food WA collaboration, which was awarded the Moore Australia (WA) gold award for Best Practice in Collaboration Between Government and Any Other Organisation at the 2021 IPAA awards
- developed and released Shift: A guide for media and communications professionals — to change the way we talk about weight and reduce stigma.
Recommendation 3a
Initiatives to increase the number of Aboriginal people employed within EMHS were implemented, resulting in a workforce that is reflective of the Aboriginal population within the EMHS catchment area. This included:
- appointment to a new Equity, Diversity and Inclusion role within the EMHS People and Capability Team
- identifying tools, resources and pathways for Aboriginal people to build a support network for jobseekers and applicants
- developing resources for managers to assist and guide their understanding regarding Aboriginal employment.
Recommendation 5
In an effort to reduce our environmental footprint, EMHS’ focus throughout the year has been the development of the EMHS Sustainability Plan, which prioritises initiatives focused on waste separation and management.
Recommendation 11a
EMHS’ Outpatient Reform Program 2020-25 (OPR) is designed to transform the patient journey by making the system easier to navigate. An EMHS Outpatient 2030 forum in 2021 resulted in the development of an Outpatient Future 2030 Roadmap to guide EMHS priorities.
Patient experience and access, new models of care, collaboration, and workforce engagement were priorities for the OPR program in 2021-22.
Recommendation 11b
EMHS continued to implement the EMHS Telehealth Plan 2020-22, which aims to improve access to specialist care closer to home and improve care coordination and collaboration between health professionals and patients in WA. COVID-19 has accelerated this work and virtual care uptake increased significantly in 2021-22.
Recommendation 13
As the WA Health system-wide response lead for this recommendation, this year EMHS progressed extensive analysis and broad consultation with stakeholders — with a focus on patients with Chronic Heart Failure (CHF) or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). This has brought together a suite of key themes and recommendations, which could help to reduce avoidable hospital presentations for people with chronic conditions.
Recommendation 14
In 2021-22, EMHS commenced implementation of several initiatives from the EMHS Health Care of the Older Adult Service Model, aimed at improving and optimising health pathways and integration of care for our older adult community.
Recommendation 23
Through this recommendation, EMHS aims to develop great leaders with the capability and behaviours to lead engaged and productive teams. The EMHS Leadership Development Framework guides a significant program of work, which prioritises coaching and supporting our leaders, including the Leadership and Management Program, Leading People and Performance Education Framework (conversation series), Talent Management Program and the Change Management/Project Management Mentoring Program.
