MEDICUS FEBRUARY 2016

C O MM E N T

East Metropolitan Health Service and reform of WA Health governance

Hon Dr Kim Hames MLA WA Minister for Health

T he introduction of statutory Health Service Boards was one of the key recommendations of the WA Health Transition and Reconfiguration Steering Committee, chaired by former acting Director General of Health, Professor Bryant Stokes. Perth’s expanding eastern corridors will soon have their own, dedicated health service, but why is it so important to have one? As Minister for Health, I announced, in November 2015, that a new East Metropolitan Health Service (EMHS) would be established from 1 July 2016 with the aim of strengthening the coordination, integration and efficiency of clinical services for communities in Perth’s burgeoning eastern corridor. Under the new legislation, the boards will oversee the health services and public hospitals within a networked area, rather than individual public hospitals as existed in the past. These changes form part of broader reforms to the governance of WA Health involving the establishment of each of our Health Services as separate, board-governed statutory authorities from 1 July 2016.

Act 1927 , these reforms will bring greater local focus, expertise and innovation to the delivery of health services to our communities. The aim is to clarify roles, decision-making responsibilities and system-wide accountabilities. As part of the division of hospitals in the EMHS, the new board will oversee Royal Perth, Bentley, Kalamunda and Armadale Kelmscott Memorial hospitals, as well the new St John of God Midland Public Hospital. The establishment of an additional health service will benefit patients by enhancing the focus on the quality of healthcare delivery in Perth’s eastern metropolitan corridor, particularly as demand in this area continues to grow. Smaller health services across the metropolitan area will allow for greater transparency and better understanding of activity and budget allocations, while being more agile in meeting service demands. The advantage is a focus on a smaller number of hospitals and targeted, quality service. With Royal Perth Hospital more logically placed within the East Metropolitan Health Service than its southern counterpart, Perth’s eastern

suburbs will have their own tertiary facility and access to services which cover every spectrum of health need. A model of co-ordinated and integrated clinical services means a capacity for more efficient workflows, service delivery and budgeting between the hospitals. Funding for the new health service will be through the Department of Health’s existing budget. The transition to these arrangements, and ongoing operations, will be delivered within current and future activity and budget parameters, and within the clinical services as outlined in the WA Health Clinical Services Framework 2014-2024. In establishing this governance model, assessments will be conducted to identify key capability and capacity gaps in the system, supporting the transition of health services to operate as separate statutory authorities and to make decisions at a local level to meet local need. Work is currently underway to define the EMHS catchment area, along with detailed service agreements for activity, funding levels and expected levels of performance. ■

Subject to new legislation to replace the Hospitals and Health Services

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