AMAV VICDOC Winter 2024 - Magazine - Page 18
VICTORIA’S HEALTHCARE SYSTEM IS SOLID,
BUT WE NEED TO IMPROVE HOW WE WORK
AND PROVIDE CARE.
WE MUST EMPOWER GENERAL PRACTICE BY
INVESTING IN SUPPORT, REMUNERATION,
AND IT INFRASTRUCTURE.
We are fortunate to have a highly trained,
multidisciplinary workforce, a national
universal healthcare system, and strong
research and education institutions.
However, there are plenty of opportunities
to restore confidence in the system and
improve our provision of care. Fragmented
communication and planning, especially
between GPs and hospitals, poses a
significant challenge to the continuity of
care and patient safety. Interactions between
hospitals and GPs are not helped by
outdated, non-interoperable technologies.
Such disjointed communication
compromises patient safety and erodes
patient trust and trust between healthcare
sectors. Its inefficiencies and ineffectiveness
cost the community and providers dearly.
Developing more shared care models
between hospitals and GPs, and supporting
GPs to provide what they can enables more
patient care close to home, more efficiently
and cost effectively. Hospitals should be
funded and expected to enable this, along
with training, upskilling and supporting
GPs. An example of this is long-acting
reversible contraception (LARC). GPs
want to be able to insert them, however
there's a limitation in accessible training
to upskill GPs. If GPs were provided with
free training and appropriate remuneration
to insert LARCs, more would happen in
general practice.
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AN IDEAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM APPROPRIATELY
RESPONDS TO HEALTHCARE NEEDS.
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We need to create a system that prioritises
equity, efficiency and integration. It needs
to revolve around the care a patient needs
in a GP-led, patient-centred medical
home model, ensuring longitudinal,
comprehensive, and accessible care.
This model emphasises proactive outreach
to address the needs of marginalised
populations and those falling through
the gaps in traditional healthcare delivery.
To be successful, this model must be
underpinned by seamless integration
of IT systems, direct communication
channels between GPs and hospitals,
the ability for GPs to obtain timely
advice, and transparent performance
indicators to improve coordination
and patient outcomes.
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AMA VI C TO RIA
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AN INTEGRATED IT SYSTEM WOULD MAKE A
MEANINGFUL DIFFERENCE TO PATIENT CARE.
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Streamlined communication and
collaboration between healthcare sectors is
critical to a GP-led, patient-centred model's
success. The State Government needs to
implement interoperable e-communication
platforms between general practice and
hospitals and standardise referral processes;
facilitating efficient information exchange,
clinical handover and care coordination.
While referrals can be done and sent
electronically directly from common GP
software, many hospitals still don’t have
the ability to receive electronic referrals,
with some still relying on outdated fax
machines, causing significant clinical risks.
GPs also need information to be provided
electronically and directly into clinical
software. Many coroner reports have made
recommendations on this, yet progress is
patchy and service specific, rather than
government and quality standard mandated.
