❓ A WA parliamentary question on notice addresses the Health Department's implementation of recommendations from the Auditor General's report on universal child health checks, focusing on value for money, service accessibility, consistency, and support for nurses. The response indicates ongoing efforts to improve these areas.
AnsweredQoN 4458Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to the Recommendations from the Auditor General’s Report on Universal Child Health Checks of November 2010, and ask -
(1) To demonstrate that it is delivering best value for money, has the Health Department -
(a) set performance targets for each child health check in order to report its performance against these in its annual report;
(b) improved its patient management system and financial reporting to provide better business information for service management and planning, and performance monitoring;
(c) used its existing information system (HCARe) more effectively as a stop gap until an improved system is in place; and
(d) undertaken any analysis to demonstrate that its current practice gives the best value for money?
(2) To increase the number of children receiving checks, has the Health Department -
(a) taken any steps to better promote to parents the importance of all the child health checks and particularly the 18 month and three year old checks, which rely to a greater extent on parent engagement; and
(b) implemented different models of service delivery to improve accessibility of services in response to changing community needs?
(3) To improve consistency of services and support offered to families wherever they live, has the Health Department -
(a) put in place monitoring mechanisms to support nurses in delivering services in keeping with the core business framework; and
(b) considered partnering with other agencies to make better use of other Government and non-Government services that are funded and set up to deliver relevant complementary services, such as parenting information and toddler groups?
(4) To better support child health and school nurses so they can reach more children, has the Health Department -
(a) taken any steps to ensure adequate IT support for all child health and school nurses;
(b) reviewed its approach to administrative tasks such as booking appointments and collating data to free-up nurses to deliver services; and
(c) reviewed its management of child health facilities to coordinate leasing and maintenance to ensure that buildings are safe, ‘fit for purpose’ and located in the right place?
(1) To demonstrate that it is delivering best value for money, has the Health Department -
(a) set performance targets for each child health check in order to report its performance against these in its annual report;
(b) improved its patient management system and financial reporting to provide better business information for service management and planning, and performance monitoring;
(c) used its existing information system (HCARe) more effectively as a stop gap until an improved system is in place; and
(d) undertaken any analysis to demonstrate that its current practice gives the best value for money?
(2) To increase the number of children receiving checks, has the Health Department -
(a) taken any steps to better promote to parents the importance of all the child health checks and particularly the 18 month and three year old checks, which rely to a greater extent on parent engagement; and
(b) implemented different models of service delivery to improve accessibility of services in response to changing community needs?
(3) To improve consistency of services and support offered to families wherever they live, has the Health Department -
(a) put in place monitoring mechanisms to support nurses in delivering services in keeping with the core business framework; and
(b) considered partnering with other agencies to make better use of other Government and non-Government services that are funded and set up to deliver relevant complementary services, such as parenting information and toddler groups?
(4) To better support child health and school nurses so they can reach more children, has the Health Department -
(a) taken any steps to ensure adequate IT support for all child health and school nurses;
(b) reviewed its approach to administrative tasks such as booking appointments and collating data to free-up nurses to deliver services; and
(c) reviewed its management of child health facilities to coordinate leasing and maintenance to ensure that buildings are safe, ‘fit for purpose’ and located in the right place?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
7 September 2011
Responded by
Minister for Mental Health representing the Minister for Health
Response time
29 days
(1)(a) Performance targets are being developed for the delivery of all seven child health care checks taking into account the issue of the voluntary nature of the service and the effect of new Commonwealth Government policies for linking eligibility for Family Tax Benefit A to child health checks for children 3 and 4 years of age. The health checks can be provided by General Practitioners or Department of Health (DOH) services.
(b) Yes. There are currently three major initiatives being undertaken that relate to the improvement of patient management systems in non-hospital settings:
- The Health Information Network's Community Health Information Communication Technology (ICT) Program which is subject to prioritisation within Health's ICT Program.
- Child Development Information System Expansion to enable the collection of information across the metropolitan area on the delivery of the seven universal child health checks from birth to school entry. This has been designed to be integrated into the ICT project when it is implemented. This project will be implemented in the second quarter of 2012.
- Improved HCARe usage and data integrity. HCARe is the DOH's non admitted patient management system. HCARe and its data coding is being reviewed and updated according to the Department's information needs.
(c) Yes. The DOH has taken action to improve the State-wide HCARe system. A set of standardised codes relating to child and school health core business has been developed. State-wide coding guidelines and business rules for recording child and school health service activity in HCARe are being developed.
(d) The issue of best value for money in preventative health services is methodologically challenging and is the subject of comment in the Productivity Commission Draft Report - Early Childhood Development Workforce June 2012, (Chapter 12). Discussions are occurring with stakeholders and research bodies on cost effective approaches to this recommendation.
(2)(a) All the checks are promoted through information contained in the Personal Health Record (Purple Book) which all new parents receive in the maternity hospital after the birth of their baby. In addition they are promoted by child health nurses at each contact, and posters and pamphlets about the child health service are located in child health sites. Where service capacity allows, parents are reminded by letters or telephone calls.
The DOH's Corporate Communications branch is being consulted to develop new promotional strategies. However, before implementation, a risk analysis and risk management review will be completed to determine the capacity to deliver on increased requests for service.
(b) The DOH has engaged the Institute of Child Health Research to survey users of child health services to determine if they are effectively meeting their needs and to identify the barriers to carers not accessing services, particularly the offer of a check to children aged 18 months and 3 years. The results will inform the design of services to make them more acceptable and accessible.
The Department has continued its reform of community child health services to Aboriginal families in WA in collaboration with Aboriginal Controlled Health Organisations and Aboriginal Medical Services. Central to the project is the implementation of an enhanced schedule of child health checks and contacts to Aboriginal families with higher needs supported with employment of additional staff and the training of Aboriginal health workers in this area.
(3)(a) Yes.
(b) Yes. There are a variety of service types and many providers and funders. The DOH is engaged in the Interagency Parenting Group led by the Department of Communities that has representatives from State and Federal government agencies. The purpose of the Interagency Parenting Group is to develop a common understanding of parenting services and their relationship in the broader family support context, identify outcomes and measures for parenting services. This project will inform the Department where it might better engage with funders and providers to rationalise its provision of parenting services.
(4)(a) Yes. External contractors have been engaged to review the WA Country Health Service (WACHS) information services and systems and to develop business requirements for community health/non-hospital systems in country WA. This work will feed into the business case being developed by Health Information Network for the new Community Health ICT Program. The Metropolitan Child and Adolescent Community Health (CACH) has instituted the CACH IT Connectivity Project, which is an Information Technology (IT) audit to inform hardware and connectivity issues and planning.
(b) Yes. The use of administrative staff for booking appointments electronically has been trialled in the South West region of the WACHS with some success. The project is being extended to further clinics in the Bunbury/Busselton area region. In the Perth area for CACH, a proposal is being considered for a central booking system for the core child health checks but enabling child health nurses to make appointments for families who have been identified to need follow-ups.
(c) Yes. The metropolitan CACH has acquired the services of a Facilities Manager. Audits have been completed for all facilities in CACH and action plans are being developed to address issues identified in the audits.
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(b) Yes. There are currently three major initiatives being undertaken that relate to the improvement of patient management systems in non-hospital settings:
- The Health Information Network's Community Health Information Communication Technology (ICT) Program which is subject to prioritisation within Health's ICT Program.
- Child Development Information System Expansion to enable the collection of information across the metropolitan area on the delivery of the seven universal child health checks from birth to school entry. This has been designed to be integrated into the ICT project when it is implemented. This project will be implemented in the second quarter of 2012.
- Improved HCARe usage and data integrity. HCARe is the DOH's non admitted patient management system. HCARe and its data coding is being reviewed and updated according to the Department's information needs.
(c) Yes. The DOH has taken action to improve the State-wide HCARe system. A set of standardised codes relating to child and school health core business has been developed. State-wide coding guidelines and business rules for recording child and school health service activity in HCARe are being developed.
(d) The issue of best value for money in preventative health services is methodologically challenging and is the subject of comment in the Productivity Commission Draft Report - Early Childhood Development Workforce June 2012, (Chapter 12). Discussions are occurring with stakeholders and research bodies on cost effective approaches to this recommendation.
(2)(a) All the checks are promoted through information contained in the Personal Health Record (Purple Book) which all new parents receive in the maternity hospital after the birth of their baby. In addition they are promoted by child health nurses at each contact, and posters and pamphlets about the child health service are located in child health sites. Where service capacity allows, parents are reminded by letters or telephone calls.
The DOH's Corporate Communications branch is being consulted to develop new promotional strategies. However, before implementation, a risk analysis and risk management review will be completed to determine the capacity to deliver on increased requests for service.
(b) The DOH has engaged the Institute of Child Health Research to survey users of child health services to determine if they are effectively meeting their needs and to identify the barriers to carers not accessing services, particularly the offer of a check to children aged 18 months and 3 years. The results will inform the design of services to make them more acceptable and accessible.
The Department has continued its reform of community child health services to Aboriginal families in WA in collaboration with Aboriginal Controlled Health Organisations and Aboriginal Medical Services. Central to the project is the implementation of an enhanced schedule of child health checks and contacts to Aboriginal families with higher needs supported with employment of additional staff and the training of Aboriginal health workers in this area.
(3)(a) Yes.
(b) Yes. There are a variety of service types and many providers and funders. The DOH is engaged in the Interagency Parenting Group led by the Department of Communities that has representatives from State and Federal government agencies. The purpose of the Interagency Parenting Group is to develop a common understanding of parenting services and their relationship in the broader family support context, identify outcomes and measures for parenting services. This project will inform the Department where it might better engage with funders and providers to rationalise its provision of parenting services.
(4)(a) Yes. External contractors have been engaged to review the WA Country Health Service (WACHS) information services and systems and to develop business requirements for community health/non-hospital systems in country WA. This work will feed into the business case being developed by Health Information Network for the new Community Health ICT Program. The Metropolitan Child and Adolescent Community Health (CACH) has instituted the CACH IT Connectivity Project, which is an Information Technology (IT) audit to inform hardware and connectivity issues and planning.
(b) Yes. The use of administrative staff for booking appointments electronically has been trialled in the South West region of the WACHS with some success. The project is being extended to further clinics in the Bunbury/Busselton area region. In the Perth area for CACH, a proposal is being considered for a central booking system for the core child health checks but enabling child health nurses to make appointments for families who have been identified to need follow-ups.
(c) Yes. The metropolitan CACH has acquired the services of a Facilities Manager. Audits have been completed for all facilities in CACH and action plans are being developed to address issues identified in the audits.
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
http://www.rtlib.com
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