Medicare Local Transition Manager
Natalie Virgo-Milton, 5229 1922
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Approval of the Barwon Medicare Local:
On Wednesday 21st of September at the Extraordinary General Meeting members of the GP Association passes a resolution to change the constitution and company name to become the Barwon Medicare Local. Whilst there will be a few noticeable changes to our name and branding, members, stakeholders and consumers will not notice any difference in the delivery of our services or programs and in fact over time there will be an increase in the services we will provide.
A new era for the company and the community is beginning and we look forward to working with all health practitioners and organisations to enhance the primary health care sector in the region.
Barwon Medicare Local
On the 17th June 2011 the Federal Government announced that the Barwon Medicare Local was one of four Victorian organizations to successfully become a Medicare Local.
The Barwon Medicare Local will transition to become the Barwon Medicare Local and will service the Local Government Areas of the City of Greater Geelong, Surf-Coast Shire, Colac- Otway Shire, Borough of Queenscliff and parts of the Golden Plains Shire (South- East).
What are Medicare Locals?
Medicare Locals will be primary health care organisations established to coordinate primary health care delivery and tackle local health care needs and service gaps. They will drive improvements in primary health care and ensure that services are better tailored to meet the needs of local communities.
For more information visit http://www.yourhealth.gov.au
Characteristics of the local area
The Barwon Medicare Local region correlates with the majority of the Barwon region and is located in South-west Victoria encompassing coastal townships down as far as Lorne and Apollo Bay, all townships on the Bellarine Peninsula, rural areas inland to Bannockburn, the metropolitan centre of Geelong, and the rural townships of Colac and surrounds.
The population of the Barwon Medicare Local region is estimated at 277, 057 persons with 137, 336 males and 139, 721 females. There is an increasing ageing population with 15.9% of the population residing within the Barwon Medicare Local catchment over the age of 65. Also residing within the region is a population of 1,723 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders which represents approximately 0.7% of the population with the highest proportions residing in the Corio-Inner and South Barwon-Inner SLAs. Population projections predict that the population of the Barwon region will increase by 31.6% in the next 10-15 years with the Golden Plains and Surfcoast LGAs expecting the biggest increase in population. Coastal towns located on the Bellarine Peninsula or Surfcoast also experience big population swells in the peak summer holiday period with populations often doubling during this time.
The Barwon Medicare Local has higher rates per 100 persons than the Victorian and Australian average for a number of health risk factors including tobacco smoking, risky alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, over weight and obesity. Data also shows higher rates per 100 persons of circulatory system diseases, hypertension, COPD, respiratory diseases including asthma and musculoskeletal diseases. Some SLAs within the Barwon ML experience disproportionally higher rates of chronic disease consistently indicating the impact of the socio-economic determinants of health on health outcomes.
The Barwon Medicare Local's vision is to improve the health outcomes for the people of the Barwon Region by being an efficient, independent organisation that works in partnership with General Practice, health professionals, health care organisations, government and the community to achieve an accessible, responsive and connected primary health care system for all people.
Map of Barwon Medicare Local:Victoria
Local partnerships
The Barwon Medicare Local is working openly with consumer Groups, General Practice, clinicians working in primary health care, local hospital networks (LHNs), local Aboriginal communities and five local government areas in the Barwon region of Victoria. The Barwon Medicare Local will leverage off the partnerships developed by the General Practitioners Association of Geelong.
The organisation has well established relationships with numerous organisations within the region and worked with these organisations closely in the development of the application to become the Barwon Medicare Local. These include G21 Regional Alliance, Deakin University, Local Hospital Networks across the Barwon region, the Local Government Authorities residential aged care facilities, Wathaurong Health Service, headspace Barwon, Workforce agencies and many non government organisations.
Our partnership with General Practice and other organisations working in primary health care is well developed and this positions the Barwon Medicare Local to collaborate with a diversity of health care professionals to respond to the service gaps within the Barwon region.
Consultation mechanisms and BML structure
The Barwon Medicare Local will be governed by a Board with a mix of appointed and elected Directors. In total there will be 9 Directors, five of which elected from members and four additional Directors appointed by the Board. Each will operate on a rolling three year cycle so that a third of the Board is renewed each year. The Board will transition over the next 2 years to reach a steady state with the above composition by the end of 2013.
The membership structure for the Barwon Medicare Local is a single tier of individual membership that will transition over the next 2 years to include all GPs, practice nurses and other primary health care providers registered with the Australian Health Practitioners Regulatory Authority. Members will commit to working in an integrated primary care system within the Barwon region. The Board will also have the power to approve any individual who would not otherwise qualify for membership but who is actively involved in primary health delivery in the Barwon region and whose membership of the Barwon Medicare Local who would significantly enhance the organisation.
General Practitioners are the current members of the General Practitioners Association of Geelong and they have been the architects of the new constitution to reflect the new purpose and objectives of the Barwon Medicare Local.
The organisational structure proposed for the Barwon Medicare Local will provide an increased focus on population health planning, clinical leadership, consumer input and the delivery of primary health care programs. The organisation will continue to provide well developed clinical services such as those provided through headspace Barwon where over 4,000 young people accessed early intervention services last year.
At all times, The Barwon Medicare Local invites consumers and industry bodies to engage with the organisation so that the future direction is guided from a broad range of people.
New key activities as a Medicare Local
- Medicare Locals are required to undertake a range of activities to meet their strategic objectives to:
- Improve the patient journey through developing integrated and coordinated services
- Provide support to clinicians and service providers to improve patient care.
- Identification of the health needs of local areas and development of locally focused and responsive services.
- Facilitation of the implementation and successful performance of primary health care initiatives and programs.
- Be efficient and accountable with strong governance and effective management.
Some of the activities that the Barwon Medicare Local will undertake initially include
- Consulting with local organisations and the community for establishing a genuine consumer engagement framework.
- Expanding E-Health systems to deliver an online view of medications prescribed by medical practitioners for patients who consent to the sharing of such information.
- Strengthening relationships with the Wathaurong Aboriginal Cooperative to ensure our activities are developed and implemented to encourage access by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, such as developing a local Cultural Awareness training package for General Practice.
- Developing lead clinician groups with Local Hospital Networks and private practitioners to help inform where the health system can be enhanced.
- Commencing local population health planning to determine priority areas for sections within the community who are not engaged with the local healthy system or able to access services in a timely manner.
GP One Pager from CEO
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