Primary Health Branch policy and funding guidelines

Primary Health Branch policy and funding guidelines––2006–07 to 2008–09 (2008–09 update) 5
2.3 Primary Care Partnerships Strategy
The Primary Care Partnerships (PCP) Strategy will facilitate
the integration required by Care in Your Community and
demonstrates what can be achieved by agencies working in
partnership towards shared goals.
Although the strategy has its origins in the primary health
care sector, PCPs have broadened their scope over time.
Typical PCP members now include local government,
community health services, divisions of general practice,
acute health services, aged care assessment services,
district nursing, and a range of other primary health and aged
care services providing care and coordination to consumers
with complex needs.
PCPs are the department’s preferred vehicle for driving
initiatives that require a partnership approach. As such, PCPs
have collaborated with the acute sector around
HARP-Chronic Disease Management and are participating in
a range of chronic disease initiatives, including Early
Intervention in Chronic Disease and the ‘Go for your life’
diabetes prevention program.
With the announcement of ongoing funding in 2005, the PCP
Strategy was endorsed as an integral part of the Victorian
health and human services sector. The current role of PCPs
is to facilitate change management in partnership
development, in integrated health promotion and in service
coordination. Although improving health outcomes for those
with chronic and/or complex conditions has always been a
major role for PCPs, 2006–09 will see Integrated Chronic
Disease Management as a specific deliverable for PCPs. As
part of this, PCPs will be expected to increase the
participation of general practices, general practice divisions
and providers of acute care in PCP activities.
Moving from a developmental program to an integral ongoing
part of the Victorian health and human services sector will
bring some changes to the way PCPs operate. In line with
other program areas, PCPs will be required to regularly report
progress to the department. A major role for the Department
of Human Services over the next three years will be to
achieve a more consistent performance from PCPs
across Victoria.
For PCPs to achieve their stated aims, ongoing change of the
work environment will be required, with PCPs playing a key
role. The department recognises that PCPs are unable to
enforce change in the practice of member agencies;
however, it is expected that PCPs will develop strategies to
encourage and promote the necessary practice change.
2.4 Community health policy
The Community Health Services––creating a healthierVictoria
policy is the key to developing and integrating community
health services within the broader national and state health
system. It outlines a consistent set of roles, principles and
directions for community health services. The policy builds
on the many strengths of Victoria’s community health
services, addresses major challenges confronting them, and
complements other strategies and policies at all levels of
government.
As shown in Figure 2, the policy describes five major
strategic directions and four major capacity
building enablers.
Figure 2: Strategic Directions and Enablers
(Community Health Services––creating a healthier
Victoria (DHS, 2004))
Focus on
child and
family
health
Leadership
in health
promotion
Capital investment and
service planning
Governance and
effective leadership
Strategic
directions
Expanded
primary medical
care
Enablers
Platform for
delivery of
primary health
care
Coordinated
community
based disease
management
& ambulatory
care
Research and
workforce development
Business systems
and quality