Australia has 31 Primary Health Networks covering the whole of Australia. Primary Health Networks were established by the Australian Government in July 2015, replacing the 61 Medicare Locals that were in existence at that time.
Established in 2011, Medicare Locals were regional primary health care organisations which aimed to plan and coordinate improved primary health care in their designated area, with a focus on GP services. A review of Medicare Locals in 2015 found that patient outcomes can be improved by reducing fragmentation of care and that the role of general practice is paramount.
However the review also found that health services were delivered inconsistently, and Medicare Locals lacked transparency and had high administrative costs.
The review recommended replacing Medicare Locals with primary health organisations which also had a focus on improving patient incomes in their geographical area by encouraging the primary, community and specialist health sectors to collaborate. Primary Health Networks aim to deliver better access to frontline health services in their local area by working directly with GPs, allied health professionals, hospitals and community health services.
A key recommendation of the review was that the new Primary Health Networks be aligned to existing Local Hospital Networks for better integration of care between primary and acute health services. Thus, smaller states and territories have only one or two Primary Health Networks.
A Local Hospital Network (LHN) is an organisation which provides public hospital services through one or more hospitals, some also manage community based health services. Every public hospital in Australia is part of an LHN. Some states have their own name for Local Hospital Networks, in New South Wales for example they are known as Local Health Districts and in South Australia they are known as Local Health Networks. Each LHN, of which there are around 130, has an identifying number and they typically report spending on a monthly basis.
Primary Health Networks are outcomes focused with six key targets:
- Mental health
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health
- Population health
- Health workforce
- eHealth
- Aged care.
A recent survey by the Australian Medical Association found that a third of General Practitioners are unsure what Primary Health Networks do. Almost 400 GPs participated in the survey which found that nearly half of respondents felt that they had not yet been given sufficient information, education and support from PHNs. However, overall GPs felt that Primary Health Networks were doing a better job of improving local access to care for patients than the Medicare Locals they replaced.
The AMA intends to conduct the same survey in two years’ time to determine the effectiveness of PHNs on Australian GPs and their patients.