CHA Matters Member Update September 2020 - Catholic Health Australia
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
CHA Matters
Member Update September 2020
Health Matters
Welcome to this update on CHA activities
in 2020. This year has tested the health and
aged care sectors more than any other in New models for Private
recent memory. Your systems and staff are Health Insurance
under great strain, and are called upon
time and again to focus on the task ahead.
At CHA we have a job to do which is to
advocate for better health and aged care
policy and to ensure you are listened to
when we speak as one sector. Your Catholic
ministry of healing has never been more
important and we continue to place that at
the heart of everything that we do.
As more Australians move away from private health funds
Here is a snapshot of the work we have CHA is leading the way in developing policy that will stem
undertaken this year. We hope to publish the tide and protect our system of universal healthcare in
Australia.
similar updates regularly.
We have commissioned a major report to examine options
to improve the financial sustainability of the sector while
ensuring the poor, vulnerable and marginalised in our
community are able to continue to access healthcare,
such as mental health services.
The report will examine the current value proposition
for private health insurance, consider the best incentives
to attract and retain Australians in private health funds
and look at opportunities to improve the efficiency of
contracting between private hospitals and health funds
to ensure more of the health dollar is spent on patients.
The report is expected to be out in October 2020.
CHA Matters | Member Update September 2020
Health Matters
Working as one hospital
sector during the pandemic
CHA has been playing an important role in the Australian
health sector’s response to COVID. As the pandemic struck
and all but the most urgent elective surgery ceased in late
March CHA sat down with government to talk about ways
in which our sector could assist amid some dire predictions
about a lack of capacity for intensive care beds and
unprecedented demand for ventilators.
In conjunction with the private for profit hospital sector
CHA negotiated with Commonwealth, State and Territory
Governments an historic viability guarantee that saw the
full integration of the Catholic sector’s hospitals with the
public system. Working under the direction of state and
territory government health departments our facilities
and staff were put at their disposal to fight COVID. That
partnership has served well over the second phase of the
pandemic in Victoria and will continue to be in place and
ready to be re-activated at a moment’s notice so long as the
threat of COVID remains.
Better services for patients
In keeping with our mission for affordable and accessible
healthcare CHA is pushing for reforms to the health sector
that delivers on this. CHA has authored a report into the
missing opportunity of out of hospital (OOH) care.
The report, entitled Advancing Health’s Missing Sector,
focuses on the barriers and solutions to enable OOH
care to grow across the private system. It also identifies
the funding mechanisms required to expand OOH care
and how to ensure non-hospital providers meet similar
standards as hospitals. Our team has already held talks
with government, private hospital groups and the health
funds.
CHA has also been advocating for an extension of the
temporary Medicare items for telehealth services. We have
been focusing our efforts on communicating the benefits
of telehealth for the poor, vulnerable and marginalised,
such as those in regional and rural areas who have limited
access to specialist health care, and those accessing mental
health services. CHA will continue to use the media to
put pressure on government and the private health funds
to make telehealth a permanent fixture of our health
landscape.
CHA Matters | Member Update September 2020 2
Aged Care Matters
The Aged Care End of life directions
Royal Commission funding partnership
CHA signed a three-year collaboration contract with the
Queensland University of Technology, Flinders University
and the University of Technology to improve the quality
of end of life care for older people, including improving
linkages between aged care services and palliative care
services, improving skills and advance care planning
expertise and developing and applying assistive tools
and technology. End of Life Directions and Care is now an
integral part of CHA’s advocacy and policy formation.
CHA has used the Royal Commission process as an
opportunity to push for the reforms that are so desperately
needed to deliver a better aged care system. We have
actively engaged with the Commission in the past 12
months, providing a witness statement regarding funding
Fighting for Better Aged Care
and financing issues, a submission on the redesign of
campaign
the aged care program and participating in invited
teleconferences with Commission staff. Throughout the
year we have kept members informed by circulating
summaries of hearings and giving regular updates in our
newsletter.
Advocating for a
Better Aged Care
CHA used the by-election campaign in Eden Monaro,
CHA has contributed to the work of the Minister’s
NSW to trial an aged care awareness campaign. We want
Aged Care sector Committee and that of the Aged Care
to make aged care a priority for the community and for
Financing Authority. We prepared a pre-Budget submission
our citizens to put pressure on our politicians to take
for the 2020-21 Budget which prioritised the need to
the issue seriously. In a three-week campaign period we
address residential aged care funding pressures pending
advertised in newspapers, radio and Facebook and handed
the introduction of a new funding system by addressing the
out hundreds of leaflets at polling booths. Among those
inadequate indexation arrangements that currently apply.
who saw the Fight for Better Aged Care campaign, there
We also prioritised the continued expansion of home care
was strong support for change. For example, the percentage
packages in order to reduce the current waiting list. In all,
of people who agreed with the statement that fixing the
our team made six major submissions to government and
aged care system should be a key government priority rose
the Department of Health on a wide variety of important
from 40% before the campaign to 60%. CHA’s initiative
issues. Our quarterly Canberra Aged Care Round-up
has spurred the wider industry into action and a similar
newsletters kept members up to date on developments
nationwide push by all aged care industry bodies is now
concerning the funding and regulation of aged care.
underway.
CHA Matters | Member Update September 2020 3
Aged Care Matters Mission Matters
Shaping sector response Leadership program
to Covid-19 Mission Services successfully concluded Cohort 2 of the
Ministry Leadership Program. Thirty-six senior executives
from health, aged care and community services completed
the program. Evaluations were highly positive. Members
of this cohort continue to network and collaborate on a
number of projects including staff exchanges between
CHA member hospitals. Cohort 3 commenced July 2019
and completed four sessions with CHA. Thirty-nine senior
executives from health, aged care and social services
are enrolled in the program. This cohort benefited from
improvements to the design and delivery of MLP.
After four years of running the MLP and seeing 120 people
successfully pass through the program, it transferred to
CHA has played a key role in influencing the sector’s the Australian Catholic University (ACU) in July 2020.
response to the COVID pandemic. Daily updates with the COVID 19 delayed the next session which was to occur in
Department of Health and with Minister Colbeck, as well February: Cohort 3 recommenced in July 2020 and Cohort
as the aged care and consumer peak bodies, has ensured 4 will commence February 2021. We maintain strong links
we are both informed of government’s position and inform with the ACU and have every confidence that the program
it. Initiatives to flow from such conversations included will continue to go from strength to strength.
additional funding to meet provider costs in managing the
spread of COVID and to manage outbreaks; negotiating
the administrative arrangements for the claiming of
Vad tier 2 training
additional funding; developing a visitor access code; access
to PPE; greater flexibility in the use of CHSP funding; surge Mission Services coordinates and presents training
workforce and testing capability; and protocols for the for staff who are designated as tier 2 in the governance
transfer of COVID positive residents to COVID wards in protocols which apply in our services for responding
public hospitals. At the time of writing CHA has circulated to requests for Voluntary Assisted Dying (Suicide) in
some 40 updates on COVID-19 developments to members. Victorian hospitals and residential facilities. Thirty-five
staff participated in the February session. The next Tier 2
training will occur in September 2020. Modules are being
developed for WA as the regulations for VAD legislation
become available.
CHA Matters | Member Update September 2020 4
Ethics Matters
As part of the thought leadership in ethics CHA Secretariat
is developing a new series called Ethics Matters. We have
invited ethicists from among our member organisations
and academics from universities in Australia, the UK
and the United States to contribute articles on current
and emerging issues in ethics within the health and aged
care context. We are reaching out to a new Asian Catholic
Ethics Network for possible contributors. The first of these
papers outlined the positive contribution Catholic ethical
principles have to contribute to responses to a pandemic.
Two other contributions dealing with aspects of ethics of
vaccine development and vaccination are in the process of
being prepared for publication.
Decoding The Code
Decoding the Code continues to play an important role
in informing those working in the Catholic health and
aged care sectors of the need to understand the ethics that
underpin what we do. Demand for the course is growing
and we now offer two cohorts each year; the average
enrolment in each cohort is 40. The online training
program is conducted in ten sessions over a four month
period which introduces staff in CHA organisations to
the Code of Ethical Standards for Catholic Health and
Aged Care (Australia). A wide cross section of roles are
represented among the participants including; group
and facility level CEOs, Directors of Nursing, medical
staff, managers, senior executives and pastoral care
practitioners. The course is a collaboration between BBI –
The Australian Institute of Theological Education and
CHA Mission Services.
World Day of the Sick
In February Catholic Health Australia CEO Pat Garcia
promoted World Day of the Sick in the Catholic media and
explained why it was so important to mark it. Catholic
hospitals strive to serve everyone but particularly those
that society has forgotten and excluded, he wrote in a series
of articles. Next year CHA hopes to make World Day of the
Sick a significant date in the calendar, coming as it does in
the wake of this global pandemic.
CHA Matters | Member Update September 2020 5
Media, Marketing & Public Relations Media Coverage CHA has been raising public awareness of issues that are reform of private health funds to attract and retain young important to you in the media as part of our advocacy aims. people in the system. In the year to date CHA has been Since October we have issued more than 40 CHA press mentioned more than 400 times, a significant increase releases to the media on a wide variety of subjects for our on the previous year. We managed to secure coverage on members in health and aged care. These include but are Channel Nine, in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, not limited to the following: pushing for a fairer funding The Australian Financial Review and in The Australian, as deal for Catholic hospitals to put their staff and facilities at well as in leading industry websites. CHA will continue to the government’s disposal during the pandemic; pressing speak out in the media on issues that are important to you the Commonwealth for more funding to help our aged care and promote our Catholic mission. operators deal with COVID; calling on the government to examine means testing to fund aged care; and, pressing for CHA Matters | Member Update September 2020 6
Events
Webinar Events
More events are planned after a successful webinar hosted
jointly by CHA and the Commonwealth Department .
of Health in July. One hundred people listened to the
discussion - Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Nick
Coatsworth (pictured) - on how the hospital system is
coping with COVID. He was joined by a panel of three
representatives from the Catholic hospital sector: Rachel
Resuggan, Group Manager Allied Health, St John of God
Health Care; Tanya Brooks, General Manager Calvary
Adelaide Hospital; and Anthony Schembri, CEO St Vincent’s
Hospital Sydney. It showed us that our members appreciated
the opportunity to share experiences and learn from each
other following the events of the past few months.
CHA is now planning a similar webinar on the future of
telehealth which has seen a boom during the pandemic
and more events are in the planning stages.
Moves
Board and staff changes
There have been a number of changes to the CHA board At the same time CHA’s Director of Mission Strategy Susan
with the departure of Paul Robertson AO as Chair and his Sullivan left to join the Australian Catholic University to
replacement by John Watkins AM. Paul McClintock AO, oversee the Ministry of Leadership Program which also
Francis Sullivan AO, Virginia Bourke and James Birch AM transitioned from CHA to ACU. We thank Susan for her
all joined the board as directors. Jenny Parker was elected years of service to the CHA community and wish her well
Deputy Chair. We would like to take this opportunity to for the future.
thank Paul for his years of service and wise counsel to CHA
And lastly, CHA’s Secretariat has moved to new, smaller
and wish him well for the future.
premises in Canberra. The address of the office is Level 5,
This past year has also seen a number of staffing changes 60 Marcus Clarke Street, Canberra. The postal address
at CHA with the appointment of Pat Garcia as our new remains the same - PO Box 245 Civic Square, ACT 2608,
Chief Executive who joined the organisation in October. as does the telephone +61 2 6203 2777.
He was followed by the appointment of James Kemp as
Health Policy Director and Julian Lee as Communications
and Media Director in the New Year. The aged care team’s
capabilities were bolstered with the appointment in June
of Paul Linden as Senior Policy Advisor.
CHA Matters | Member Update September 2020 7
CHA would like to thank our sponsors, HESTA and Bank First, for their generous support of our activities in the past year. We encourage you to visit their websites and find out more. Contacts Catholic Health Australia Pat Garcia ABN 30 351 500 103 Chief Executive Officer PO Box 245 [email protected] Civic Square Nick Mersiades ACT 2608 Director of Aged Care T +61 2 6203 2777 [email protected] www.cha.org.au James Kemp Director Health Policy catholichealthaustralia [email protected] @chaaustralia Julian Lee Director of Communications and Media [email protected]
You can also read
