Hunter Urban Medicare Local

Hunter Urban Medicare Local

Characteristics of the local area:

The population of the Hunter Urban region is expected to increase sharply in the next 20 years, with an additional 160,000 residents and 115,000 dwellings projected in the area (Lower Hunter Regional Strategy, Department of Planning 2006). The population over 65 years of age in the region is expected to increase by 68 per cent, and the population over 85 years to double, by 2031.

Health areas which have been identified as priorities include pregnancy and the newborn, child health, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, respiratory disease, injury and poisoning, mental health, oral health and communicable diseases. In addition, the five health priority areas identified for Aboriginal people of the Hunter Urban region are diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hospitalisations, injury and poisoning, and diseases of the respiratory system.

New key activities as a Medicare Local:

To meet the strategic objectives for a Medicare Local, the Hunter Urban Medicare Local will undertake a range of activities that will initially include:

• Establish a specific Indigenous consumer reference group to inform Aboriginal health initiatives including development of an Aboriginal Health Strategy and an Aboriginal Health Charter.
• Proactively respond to identified needs and gaps in primary health care at the regional level, including establishing the Population Health, Planning and Performance Program to work in partnership with the Local Health District (LHD) to improve planning and to review current working relationships, including Connected Care, Diabetes Strategy and eHealth.
• Build on existing strong partnerships, including with the LHD, and developing new partnerships to effectively plan and coordinate primary health care service delivery.
• Broaden governance arrangements to be more reflective of the primary health care sector and the community.
• Ensure seamless transition of established programs and expand the focus of programs to encompass all primary health care.
• Enhance engagement with the LHD to improve its communication with the primary mental health care sector, developing partnerships with providers of non-clinical care, including non-government and community managed organisations for primary mental health care.

Achievements to date:

The Hunter Urban Division of General Practice is undertaking the following activities:

• Provide comprehensive GP Access After Hours Service, that ensures access to after hours care for the Hunter community, and is strongly supported in the region.
• Be a lead site for the Australian Government’s Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR) initiative.
• Operate one of the leading mental health services within the national Divisions of General Practice Network.
• Established forum for Aboriginal health providers to integrate & co-ordinate service delivery.
• Engage the aged care sector in the PCEHR lead implementation site initiative established via the Aged Care GP Panels initiative and the Aged Care Access Initiative.
• Provide consistently high performance in supporting the uptake of Australian Government programs within the region, including the Practice Incentives Program, and Medicare Benefits Schedule initiatives.

Local partnerships:

The Hunter Urban Medicare Local recognises the need to draw on a range of skills, knowledge and expertise from partner organisations and people from the local community. In collaboration with these groups, the Hunter Urban Medicare Local will undertake a community health needs assessment.

The Hunter Urban Medicare Local will engage with a broad range of stakeholders at all stages in the assessment process to ensure that the unique perspectives of different populations in the region are captured. Stakeholders will include consumers, community members, community groups, primary health care professionals, Local Health District, non government organisations, local government, the University of Newcastle and other research organisations.

The information gathered will be used to develop a health improvement plan for the area which should result in better integrated and coordinated primary health care services.

Consultation mechanisms and structure:

The Hunter Urban Medicare Local will have several areas of operation including business services, population health and planning and performance, integrated systems, clinical services, primary care development and clinical governance.

A Health Improvement Committee will oversee the development and implementation of the health improvement plan and will monitor the progress against objectives. This will be done as a consultative process, with stakeholders and community members involved at all levels. The Health Improvement Committee will be informed by the following advisory groups – primary care development, aged care, chronic disease management, health promotion, mental health and Aboriginal health.

Contact details:

Hunter Urban Division of General Practice
123 King Street
Newcastle NSW 2300

Phone: (02) 4925 2259
Fax: (02) 4925 2268
Email: info@gpaccess.com.au
Website: www.gpaccess.com.au

Hunter Urban Medicare Local (PDF 403 KB)