Preventing hospitalisations in Tasmania
2020/2021 TASCOSS BUDGET PRIORITIES STATEMENT
FIXING THE SYSTEM BY CARING FOR TASMANIANS Thousands of Tasmanians can’t access basic health care when they are sick.
Right now Tasmania is missing out on an estimated $38.5 million of Commonwealth health funding due to the lack of chronic disease care plans that Tasmanians are entitled to but don’t have, often because they cannot access a GP or allied health team.2 GPs are often unable to provide care planning because of the
Thousands of Tasmanians cannot afford to see a General
significant problems in access to the other health care providers
Practitioner (GP), fill a prescription or access follow up
that they need to properly support management of complex
treatment for their chronic diseases.1
chronic illness in the community. As a result, TasCOSS estimates
Well over 200,000 Tasmanians have two or more chronic conditions.
Tasmania is missing out on well over $100 million across the range of available Commonwealth-funded care plans—from the
The key priority for the government in preparing the 2020/2021
NDIS to mental health, diabetes and aged care home support
State Budget must be to reset access to basic health care available
packages. This conservative estimate is based on the profile of
to Tasmanians in our communities, not just in our hospitals. In
our population relative to the number of plans currently in place.
doing so, the State Government would fulfill its core duty of care to
Each year the Federal Budget allocates funding for care plans
Tasmanians, ease pressure on the state’s hospital system and open
based on Tasmania’s estimated needs profile. These funds are
up a wealth of Federal funds to cover costs.
accessible through the range of care plans as determined by the
Every time a Tasmanian who needs a GP doesn’t access one, the costs are threefold for them, their community and our state: 1) The person gets sicker, suffers more and will eventually require acute care in the long-term. 2) This person will ultimately present to the Emergency Department
Commonwealth Department of Health. Meanwhile, while this money sits waiting to be unlocked by a responsive community care model, 32% of the Tasmanian State Budget is being spent on health without the outcomes the Tasmanian population needs.
and will often require one or more potentially preventable hospitalisations, costing thousands of dollars and placing an avoidable burden on our overcrowded hospital system. 3) Tasmania misses out on Commonwealth dollars because a GP directed, Commonwealth funded care plan is not set up to fund the care the person requires, therefore the Tasmanian health budget picks up the cost.
TasCOSS’s Budget Priorities Statement has two goals: 1) To ensure Tasmanians get the right primary health care where and when they need it. 2) To ensure Tasmania gets the full entitlement of Commonwealth health funds to ensure
> Overall, Tasmanians are sicker and older than other Australians. Tasmanians also have low levels of income, high levels of precarious employment, a widely dispersed regional population and the nation’s lowest proportion of bulk-billing GPs.
maximum benefit for people who are currently missing out.
Improving the basic access to health care in Tasmania is a long-term mission, but we must start somewhere. Every delay and denial of the reality faced by many Tasmanians in accessing health care is a delay in stemming the flow of dollars that is currently directed into the acute end of the hospital system.
1 A chronic medical condition is one that has been (or is likely to be) present for six months or longer, for example, asthma, cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, musculoskeletal conditions and stroke. For more detail please refer to the Supplementary Figures and Tables document.
2 Patients who have a chronic medical condition and complex care needs and are being managed by their GP under a GP Management Plan (Medicare item 721) and Team Care Arrangements (Medicare item 723) are eligible for Medicare rebates for certain allied health services on referral from their GP. https:// www1.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/mbsprimarycarechronicdiseasemanagement.
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As the amount of money invested into our hospital system increases, the health outcomes of our population are declining across many measures. This cannot continue.
If a business was spending 32% of its annual budget on one area and business outcomes were getting worse, it would reassess the expenditure and look for different ways of working. One of the key reasons access to health care is becoming more challenging is, at least in part, because of rising cost of living pressures. While much attention has been on the increase in housing costs, the rising consumer costs of health are sobering.
“My local GP no longer bulk-bills and I can’t get into any other clinics that do bulk-bill because their books are full. There’s a $30 or $40 gap when I go to the GP. I only go if it’s absolutely necessary.” —Joe, Newstart recipient living in Launceston with a chronic neck injury5
What TasCOSS proposes is a proven model of wrap-around, connected health and social care that draws on existing resources to prevent hospitalisations, relieve the suffering of thousands of Tasmanians living on low incomes and provide an additional source of funding to the state health
Over the past ten years while CPI in Hobart has risen 22% overall, health costs have risen 56% and medical and hospital services have risen 83%.3 These rises outstrip real wages which have only risen 18%
system via Medicare.
over the same period, and Newstart which has not risen in real
bullet to the entirety of health system challenges. We acknowledge
terms for 25 years.
the many layers and complexities that exist for people who are
4
When we focus solely on system issues at a hospital level, we
We provide an overview of what we know works: solutions from other jurisdictions that can and should be considered in Tasmanian communities. This submission doesn’t claim to present the silver
unwell and struggling to access care.
overlook the lack of access to affordable health care of any kind
TasCOSS also acknowledges that in addition to cost barriers,
in so many communities across Tasmania. In a country that prides itself on a universal health system, Tasmanians are missing out—and the lower your income, the more your health is suffering. In 2019,
many Tasmanians have barriers relating to access to transport,
it’s hard to believe that many poor Tasmanians are going to die up
implementing solutions in this area.
to 18 years earlier than advantaged Tasmanians. In 2019, how can it be that accessing a GP or a allied health professional is a ‘luxury’ so many of us can’t afford? The 2020/2021 TasCOSS Budget Priorities Statement lays out the case for change. In doing so, TasCOSS provides the evidence which demonstrates the link between lack of access to health care in communities and the Tasmanian hospital crisis. Importantly, we combine that evidence with the first-hand experiences of Tasmanians who live each day with poor and deteriorating health.
literacy and other day-to-day challenges. And the state’s lack of available GPs, allied health staff, and broader workforce and skills shortages contribute to the challenges inherent in identifying and
Ultimately, this budget submission lays down a challenge to all levels of government. The problems in our hospital systems will not be solved in our hospitals but, instead, within our communities. We challenge decision-makers to acknowledge and prioritise funding to where the real solution will be found—in supporting Tasmanians to access the right health care at the right time in the right place. TasCOSS has often challenged the government to demonstrate brave, bold leadership on entrenched issues. Brave and bold leadership is not needed here. Instead what is needed is the most basic of government decision-making—the decision to maximise
3 ABS Cat No 6401.0, Consumer Price Index, September quarter 2019. This ABS category includes: consultations of GPs or specialist practice and hospital charges; medical insurance. 4 ABS 6302.0, Average weekly earnings, 2019. Real wages are wages adjusted to reflect the CPI. 5 Lived experience accounts collected through statewide TasCOSS consultations in August and September 2019. Names of individuals have been changed to protect identities. The accounts have not otherwise been altered.
federal funds in order to better provide health care to all Tasmanians. The evidence is clear that this is necessary, logical, financially responsible and in the best interests of all Tasmanians. Because ultimately, no matter how strong our economy is, if our population is not healthy enough to participate socially and economically, then who is that strong economy for?
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HEALTH OUTCOMES IN TASMANIA In our consultations with Tasmanians on low incomes, TasCOSS consistently hears that health is one of the most important concerns. This concern is borne out by data: Tasmanians in disadvantaged communities have much worse health than their more advantaged peers.
> Tasmania’s population is older, sicker and has higher levels of disability that any other state or territory in the country.6
And it translates to earlier deaths: the median age of death in Tasmania’s most disadvantaged neighbourhood is 66, compared to 84 in the state’s most advantaged neighbourhood.13
• 65% of adult Tasmanians have two or more chronic conditions.14
Compared to Tasmania’s most advantaged communities, residents of Tasmania’s most disadvantaged communities are more than twice as likely to have fair to poor health and to have a range of lifethreatening and life-limiting conditions, including chronic diseases such as diabetes and acute diseases such as lung cancer. When compared to someone living in Tasmania’s most advantaged community, a person living in Tasmania’s most disadvantaged community is: > 2.4 times as likely to have fair-to-poor health;7 > 2.4 times as likely to be living with profound or severe disability;8 > 2.2 times as likely to have diabetes;9 > 2.4 times as likely to have lung cancer;10 and > 2.2 times as likely to die prematurely.11 Ill health translates to lower quality of life through worsened mental health; reduced disposable income; loss of mobility and social connection; and impacts on income, employment, educational outcomes, and housing stability.12
6 PHIDU, Social Health Atlas of Australia 2019; Saul Eslake, TCCI Tasmania Report 2018. 7 PHIDU 2019, 2014-15 data. 8 PHIDU 2019, 2016 data. 9 PHIDU 2019, 2014-15 data. 10 PHIDU 2019, 2006-10 data. 11 PHIDU 2019, 2014-15 data. 12 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2465755/; https://www.jrf.org.uk/ report/does-poor-health-affect-employment-transitions; https://files.eric.ed.gov/ fulltext/ED508614.pdf; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/ S1062976903000760; https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/p/physicalhealth-and-mental-health; http://www.who.int/mental_health/media/en/712.pdf.
• An estimated 17% of eligible adult Tasmanians have a chronic disease management plan.15 • Tasmania’s median age is 42.3, compared to 37.3 for Australia.16 • 5.9% of Tasmanians living in the community have profound or severe disability, compared to 4.7% for Australia.17
13 PHIDU 2019, 2010-14 data. 14 PHT, 23 October 2019. 15 Based on available data. 16 ABS Regional Statistics 2018. 17 PHIDU 2019, 2016 data.
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Tasmanians on low incomes are finding health services both unaffordable and, in many cases, unavailable.
“I can’t afford to go the doctors. I will take my daughter but not myself. I’ve had a pain in my side but cannot afford the $70 to go to the GP. I don’t go to the dentist. I take my daughter because she is free.” —Theresa, 29-year-old single mother living in Hobart
“We accept new patients from [our local area only] who don’t have a regular doctor. We’ve had to introduce this policy as we find we have people ringing from Launceston to Burnie trying to see a doctor because we predominately bulk-bill.” —Bulk-billing GP practice, North-West Coast of Tasmania As a consequence of these factors, Tasmanians on low incomes are putting off health care or going without. In 2016-17, 7.5% of
“I’ve got glaucoma and type 2 diabetes. My GP used to bulk-bill but they’ve cut it now. He has cut out bulk-billing until Christmas when I turn 65. I haven’t been since they’ve dropped the bulk-billing.” —Raelene, 64-year-old woman on Newstart living in Launceston
Tasmanians delayed or did not see a GP due to cost—the highest rate in the country. When specialists, diagnostic imaging and pathology are taken into account, 10.7% of Tasmanians delayed or did not receive services due to cost.19 Lack of access to GPs and allied health teams also impacts on people’s ability to receive the complex care packages for which they are eligible. An estimated 17% of eligible
As health costs have soared, bulk-billing has not kept up.
Tasmanian adults have a chronic disease management plan.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare,
These plans are on the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS)
Tasmania-wide, 49.5% of GP patients face costs—the highest
which means the Commonwealth Government funds these
rate in the country outside of the ACT—with out-of-pocket costs
services. If all eligible Tasmanians had a chronic disease
ranging from $11 to $43. While many GP practices routinely
management plan, Tasmania would receive at least $38.5
bulk-bill patients under 16 years of age and/or over 65 years with
million in Commonwealth health funding.20
18
a concession card, people consulted by TasCOSS tell us that it is very difficult to find a GP who will bulk-bill new patients aged 17-64—a fact confirmed by conversations with GP practices. For example, just one of Tasmania’s three most disadvantaged communities has a GP practice that routinely bulk-bills adult Health Care Card holders and is taking new patients.
A proportion of these people will present to the Emergency Department or will be admitted to hospital as a result of their conditions. Until eligible Tasmanians and their GPs start accessing this pool of Commonwealth funding, the State Government will continue to cover a proportion of the cost of Tasmania’s chronic disease burden.
To be clear, these challenges are a part of the broader health system structure and are often not within the control of a GP.
18 AIHW, Out-of-pocket cost per GP attendance, 2016-17.
19 AIHW, Percentage of people who delayed or did not see a medical specialist, GP, get an imaging test or a pathology test when needed due to cost, 2016-17. 20 Based on available data.
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RI
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An estimated 17% of eligible adult Tasmanians have Medicare-rebateable plans for chronic disease management. If all eligible patients received one, Tasmania would access at least $38.5 million per year more in Commonwealth health funding.
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A system for social and health care that meets the needs of Tasmanians
Chronic Disease M (Medicare I
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The right care The lack of available and affordable GPs is at the heart of the need many Tasmanians talk to us about, and the impact of this is evident in the data.
The right time Not all medical needs happen during business hours, so we need to ensure that communities have access to health care afterhours and on weekends.
The right place Care that connects social and physical health and wellbeing is often better delivered outside a clinical setting.
• Health Workers • Nurses and Allied Health Professionals • Roving GPs • Dental Care • Specialists
Management Plan Item #721)
Planned hospital visits as part of treatment plan
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THE IMPACT AND FLOW-ON EFFECT OF POOR HEALTH ON TASMANIA’S HOSPITALS Tasmania’s hospitals are under mounting pressure. Emergency Department (ED) attendances and hospital admissions are increasing, and are projected to continue to increase over the next ten years, driven partly by an expected doubling of the number of people with chronic diseases.21 Many ED presentations are potentially preventable: as the success of Tasmania’s Community Rapid Response Service shows, presentations that are classified as semi-urgent and non-urgent often can be addressed in the community.22 According to Primary Health Tasmania, in 2018-19 semi-urgent and non-urgent conditions made up 53% of ED episodes of care.23
“I lost my Health Care Card because my income had just gone over the threshold. I went nine months without a Heath Care Card, so my health slipped because I couldn’t afford $80 or $90 to go to the doctor. My thyroid condition wasn’t monitored, and my hormones went too high and I needed help with a heart condition.” —Noleen, Sickness Allowance recipient living in Northern Tasmania Tasmanians from the state’s 24 most disadvantaged communities, comprising 25% of the state’s population, are overrepresented in
Many of the state’s hospitalisations could also potentially be
the state’s EDs, making up 28% of total ED episodes of care and
avoided through the provision of appropriate individualised
patients in 2018-19. The gap becomes clearer when comparing
preventative health care and early disease management, usually
the state’s most and least advantaged communities: in 2018-19,
delivered in primary care and community-based care settings.24
residents of Tasmania’s three most disadvantaged areas were
Some 9,800 of Tasmania’s public hospital admissions in 2018-
between 2.7 and 4.1 times as likely to end up as an ED patient as a
19 were potentially preventable—a figure that has risen by about
resident of the state’s most advantaged community.26
1,500 between 2016 and 2018. Six conditions were responsible for 62% of these potentially preventable hospitalisations.25
“A few months ago, I was in and out of hospital. I’m slowly going back to normal, but still have costs for pain killers and asthma. It adds up.” —Emma, 30-year-old woman on Newstart living in Ulverstone
Comparing the number of ED presentations across two Tasmanian communities of roughly equivalent population: one which is one of the state’s three most disadvantaged communities, one which is the state’s most advantaged community. Advantaged community
Disadvantaged community
Population (2018)
3,709
3,585
ED episodes of care (2018-19)
350, involving 274 individuals
1,518, involving 924 individuals
In 2018-19, between 66% and 74% of ED patients from Tasmania’s 21 PHT, 23 October 2019. 22 http://www.premier.tas.gov.au/releases/community_rapid_response _saving_thousands_of_hospital_visits. 23 PHT, 21 November 2019. 24 Primary and community care can be delivered by a range of practitioners including general practitioners, medical specialists, dentists, nurses and allied health professionals, https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/sites/default/files/migrated/ A-guide-to-the-potentially-preventable-hospitalisations-indicator-in-Australia.pdf. 25 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, urinary tract infections, cellulitis, diabetes complications, congestive heart failure, asthma. PHT, 20 November 2019.
three most disadvantaged communities came to EDs with semiurgent or non-urgent conditions, compared to 58% from the state’s most advantaged community.27
26 Crude rate. PHT, 25 November 2019. 27 PHT, 25 November 2019.
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Compared to the state’s most advantaged community, the rate of potentially preventable hospitalisations in Tasmania’s most disadvantaged community is:
> 2.6 times higher for all conditions (1.7 times the Tasmanian average).
THE RIGHT CARE AT THE RIGHT TIME IN THE RIGHT PLACE The health issues confronting Tasmania are not unique to this state. Other advanced western countries are also experiencing increasing pressure on health systems due to ageing populations
> 6.2 times higher for chronic conditions (2.9 times the Tasmanian average).28
and an increasing chronic disease burden. What is unique to Tasmania is our high numbers of people living on low incomes combined with lack of access to affordable primary health care.
In 2018-19, six conditions accounted for 62% of all Tasmanian potentially preventable hospitalisations.
This, as we have seen, dramatically increases the incidence of disease and preventable hospitalisations.
Residents of Tasmania’s 24 most disadvantaged
The good news is that solutions exist, but they demand different
communities are overrepresented in relation to these
ways of working that will challenge existing structures and
conditions, making up in 2018-19:
cultures. However, investing in the change required will bring longterm benefits to a system currently under unsustainable strain and, most importantly, to all Tasmanians.
> 40% of people hospitalised for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and diabetes.
A new way of working Jurisdictions around Australia and in other parts of the world have
> Over 35% of people hospitalised for cellulitis, congestive heart failure, and urinary tract infections.
recognised these system failures and are trialling new approaches to health care that overcome them. The approaches vary but have most of these characteristics in common: •
Integrated/holistic care that addresses complex health needs.31
> A third of people hospitalised for asthma.29 •
Health services delivered close to where people live.
•
Provision of a range of clinical and non-clinical supports such as social workers.
Tasmanians from the state’s most disadvantaged communities
•
differently—for example time-based rather than fee-for-
are also overrepresented in the state’s potentially preventable
service; funding that follows the patient not the institution.
hospitalisations. Residents of Tasmania’s 24 most disadvantaged areas made up 34% of potentially preventable
Funding models that provide incentives for working
•
Support that overcomes barriers to accessing care, such
hospitalisations in 2018-19. Furthermore, Tasmanians from
as transport, and navigating the health system, such as
the state’s 24 most disadvantaged communities who are
health literacy.
hospitalised for potentially preventable reasons stay in hospital longer than other patients, making up 40% of the state’s potentially preventable bed days in 2018-19. 30
28 PHIDU 2019, 2016-17 data. 29 PHT, 20 November 2019. 30 PHT, 20 November 2019.
31 The Productivity Commission’s 2017 Shifting the Dial Report found that ‘integrating the provision of GP and hospital services delivers better patient outcomes and at a lower cost’, p. 135, https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/productivityreview/report/productivity-review-supporting5.pdf.
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TasCOSS draws on these approaches to propose the key elements
Emerging evidence suggests that multidisciplinary organisations
of a community primary health model for Tasmania. The model
with capacity to provide comprehensive integrated care for
is designed to increase health outcomes at the same time as
people with complex and chronic needs improves the quality of
reducing avoidable ED presentations and hospitalisations.
care and reduces costs compared to the usual fee-for-service
This model initially targets those communities with the highest health needs and the lowest levels of timely access to GPs and allied health teams. These communities also align with high levels of ED presentations and potentially preventable hospitalisations. The principles behind the model are:
> The right care > The right time > The right place This is consistent with what is regarded internationally as best practice—person-centred care delivered as close to home as possible.
general practice model.32 These have been termed ‘accountable care’ organisations because they take overall responsibility for the quality, outcomes and cost of health services for an enrolled population. As described by the Grattan Institute: > Typically, these organisations coordinate the services of a network of primary care and specialist providers for their enrolled population, using a combination of agreed care plans, performance information, incentives and agreements between providers.33
The right time Not all medical needs happen during business hours, so we need to ensure that communities have access to health care afterhours and on weekends. A number of mobile and afterhours services already exist in Tasmania. These services could be enhanced,
This model will require an early investment of funding but we
expanded or replicated to provide greater coverage across the
believe it would quickly see cost savings. We propose a ‘cash-out’
state, and particularly in communities where access to health care
of Tasmania’s chronic care management plan allocation, which the
is limited:
Commonwealth sets aside in its Federal Budget every year based on the Tasmanian population’s health profile. We also propose that
•
Response Service for people at risk of needing to go to the
the State Government work with general practice, PHT and the
hospital with an acute illness, injury or deterioration of an
Commonwealth to explore ways in which GPs can be provided with
existing condition (currently limited to Launceston and parts
access to the publicly funded allied and community health providers
of Hobart, with a service planned for the North-West Coast).34
they need to ensure proper care planning. This will allow access to Commonwealth-subsidised team care arrangements for those with
The State Government’s recently introduced Community Rapid
•
Moreton Group Medical Services provides after hours
complex and chronic disease in the community. As indicated earlier,
medical access for Tasmanians in vulnerable circumstances,
this could see at least $38.5 million of funding flow to the state.
including free access to a GP.35
Additional funding would also gradually become available through
•
The Royal Flying Doctor Service provides rural health, physical
the expected reduction in ED and hospital visits as a result of more
health, dental and mental health services in five otherwise
care being delivered in communities.
underserviced communities.36
The right care The lack of available and affordable GPs is at the heart of the need many Tasmanians talk to us about, and the impact of this is evident in the data. This, then, is the first step in the plan: to bring primary care into those communities that are missing out. We propose service hubs and/or mobile care teams that provide primary, community, dental, mental health, allied health and social care, as well as some elements of traditional acute hospital care such as specialist care. Key to the success of this model is that the care is connected to ensure that non-health challenges, such as lack of transport to access a GP, do not contribute to adverse health outcomes.
32 Grattan Institute, 2018, Mapping Primary Care in Australia, https://grattan.edu.au/ wp-content/uploads/2018/07/906-Mapping-primary-care.pdf. 33 Grattan Institute, 2018, p. 55. 34 https://www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/ths/community_rapid_response_service_comrrs. 35 https://services.primaryhealthtas.com.au/after-hours-medical-carevulnerable-people. 36 https://www.flyingdoctor.org.au/tas/our-services/.
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The right place Care that connects social and physical health and wellbeing is not always most appropriately delivered in a health care setting. Where there are few or no health care services in a particular location, it is all the more important that care can be accessed
A model that addresses individual and population health and risk factors The right care needs to address risk factors and health needs at the individual level as well as at the population level.
in other settings. Many Tasmanians can more easily access
Individual level
settings that offer various kinds of social care, such as family
•
Certain conditions result in higher rates of potentially
support, parenting classes or community activities. Following the
preventable hospitalisations. So we should be providing
principles of person-centred and place-based, bringing health
intensive integrated support for individuals with health
services into these social care settings helps to bridge the gap
conditions such as diabetes and asthma to prevent
between individuals and the health care they need but cannot
hospitalisation.
otherwise readily access.
•
Some risk factors are poverty related. We therefore need to
There are examples of this practice in Tasmania, such as child
provide intensive targeted support around some of those
health nurses who visit child and family centres and the Royal
factors such as smoking and obesity.
Flying Doctor Service which operates from a local council facility in George Town.
Population level •
We know that there are higher rates of preventable
Some of the services listed above are also examples of care being
hospitalisation in some geographical areas. So we should
delivered where people are. Further examples are:
provide integrated care models in these areas, not only to
•
a full range of care, including preventive health checks, chronic disease screening, carer coordination for clients with complex care needs and social health services including mental health, alcohol and other drug services. •
address current preventable hospitalisations, but to ward off
Primary health care clinics that purchase and provide
Extended practices where GP clinics and health centres
future preventable hospitalisations. •
Some conditions are closely related to poverty. So we should target these conditions, such as vaccinepreventable diseases.
in different towns and rural areas form a team to provide
What does this look like in practice?
different services and care at home or in the community.
The right care in the right place at the right time is an approach
•
Multidisciplinary in-home care to avoid hospital admission.
increasingly being adopted in other jurisdictions. A key to these
•
Online/app-based health assessments, tracking tools and
providers and settings. This contrasts with the current system, where
action plans, with telephone support from registered nurses.
funding is provided to institutions or individual providers to treat
models is a pool of funding that follows the individual across multiple
discrete aspects of an individual’s care. The Supplementary Figures and Tables document includes examples of three such approaches. Sustainability and Transformation Plan, United Kingdom: Provides joined-up care that treats the individual holistically, not in health or social care silos. Bundled Care, Canada: A bundle of care encompasses all aspects of a patient’s care across multiple providers and settings, over a fixed period of time, include pre-acute, acute and post-acute care spanning health care settings and providers. Institute for Urban Indigenous Health Multidisciplinary Clinics, Queensland: Health services are located where they are needed, with an integrated suite of medical, social and allied health services, and care coordination for clients with complex needs.
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The Tasmanian Council of Social Service (TasCOSS) is the peak body for Tasmania’s community service sector. Our Mission is to challenge and change the systems, behaviours and attitudes that create poverty, inequality and exclusion. Our Vision is of one Tasmania, free of poverty and inequality where everyone has the same opportunity. This submission was developed through consultation with Tasmanians on low incomes and other key stakeholders including Primary Health Tasmania and the Royal Flying Doctor Service. In particular, Health Consumers Tasmania, who represent Tasmanian health consumers, is a key partner in this submission.
tascoss.org.au