Primary Health Care Congress highlights need for coordinated action

What does boiling a frog and plum jam have in common?

They were two of the analogies used to describe the state and potential for primary care at the recent Primary Health Care Congress, Leaders shaping the future of primary health care. 

Adelaide PHN was in attendance for the Congress, hosted by the PHC Alliance, which continued the discussion on the importance of primary health care reform and multi-disciplinary care, and the influence that government, doctors, nursing, midwifery and allied health providers can play in shaping the primary care health system for the future.

This included showcasing current multi-disciplinary models of care, including new and emerging models of care, system enablers for scaling and sustaining effective models and the importance of policy and politics to enable change.

The boiling frog analogy was used to describe the ongoing attempts to continue primary care reform for over 30 years, even with significant evidence that demonstrates the impact coordinated, multi-disciplinary care can have on health outcomes, including the policy recommendations outlined in the 2024 report, 'Getting Australia's Health on Track'. 

Attendees agreed the frog had well and truly boiled, and it was now time to take real action. Enablers identified included a change in funding approaches, the optimisation of digital health capabilities, the importance of data and research, and workforce training including interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary approaches.

Former NSW Health Minister, the Hon Jill Skinner, stated that "We don't have a health system in this country anymore - we have a lot of different streams not working together", and what was missing was coordinated and connected care across these streams.

She used the analogy of making plum jam to describe the importance of the different levers that exist in the system, but that we need to keep the focus on the individual in the system, and health professionals, policy makers and politicians working together to achieve a transformed outcome for that individual. 

Key messages from the Congress included:

• The importance of consumer voice and their involvement in shaping the health system
• Funding needing to be localised, based on need, and needing to move beyond current funding mechanisms which limits the ability to provide the care required currently, particularly in vulnerable communities
• Building community capability and capacity was important
• The need for an agreed, shared vision for primary care in this country

*Photo supplied by APNA.