AN ANNOUNCEMENT was made over the weekend that the Southern NSW Medicare Local (SNSWML) had failed to secure the bid for the South Eastern NSW Primary Health Network (SENSWPHN) leaving almost 20 SNSWML staff in Bega without work at the end of June.
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The tender process was announced as part of Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey’s 2014 budget, where he committed to replacing Australia’s 61 Medicare Locals with 28 Primary Health Networks (PHN) from July 2015, sharing up to $900 million in Commonwealth funding.
Southern NSW Medicare Local CEO Kathryn Stonestreet is disappointed with the result of the tender process but said she was committed to work to support the winning Illawarra-Shoalhaven based consortium Coordinaire during the transition period.
New consortium Coordinaire will not deliver services itself, it will however work to identify the community’s needs and tackle them by subcontracting the work to local providers.
“We are currently in discussions with the new provider for potential job opportunities,” Ms Stonestreet said.
Federal Minister for Health Sussan Ley called Medicare Local “flawed” on Saturday and criticized it for being inconsistent, inefficient, lacking transparency and using taxpayer funds to “pay for staff parking tickets and gifts.”
“The key difference between Primary Health Networks and Medicare Locals is that PHNs will focus on improving access to frontline services, not backroom bureaucracy,” Ms Ley said over the weekend.
“I find that highly offensive and it doesn’t relate to our organisation at all,” Ms Stonestreet said.
“Our team has been extraordinary; they were told the news at the last budget and have worked the whole year with this uncertainty.
“We have high performing staff who should be proud of what they have achieved,” she said.
Eden-Monaro MP Peter Hendy had supported Medicare Local in their tender bid, but also supports Ms Ley’s claims of too much “back room bureaucracy.”
“The Government expects the new Public Health Networks to provide a more efficient delivery of health outcomes to patients.”
“I will be working with the winning bidders to ensure that as many jobs related to the delivery of services remain in our local towns,” he said.
With a 20 year history in the southern region focusing on preventative health, SNSWML’s largest services have been in the areas of Indigenous and mental health.
The fate of SNSWML clinical services remain up in the air, however their mental health program has been given the green light to continue for another 12 months.
“We are still waiting on the department to inform us on the funding for eight schedules,” Ms Stonestreet said.
“They said they will inform us soon but ten weeks out from the financial year we need to know if they will fund them or not.”
Ms Stonestreet said that the constant reforms make it difficult for organisations to provide the best care possible to patients.
“We were reformed by the previous government which involved a new governance structure then 18 months later we had further reform making it hard to use taxpayer’s money as best we could,” she said.
“The concern is that with elections and such rapid reform it’s very hard on the organisations funded.
“It’s like being in limbo,” Ms Stonestreet said.
WINNING PHN consortium Coordinaire is backed by members own private health insurer Peoplecare, Grand Pacific Health, IRT and the University of Wollongong, and it’s boundaries will stretch from the southern border of Sutherland in the south of Sydney to Yass and the Victorian border.
Coordinaire CEO Dianne Kitcher told the Bay Post this week that she could not guarantee all services in the region would continue.
“We will not deliver services themselves, but identify needs and address them by subcontracting local providers,” Ms Kitcher said.
“It is early days and the Commonwealth hasn’t given us the contract in writing yet, but we want to work as closely as possible with Southern NSW Medicare Local and do everything we can to minimise the impact on the community,” she said.
Peoplecare was named Australia’s top private health insurance fund by AFR Smart Investor magazine late last year, and participation in the winning consortium will see them working directly with GPs and hospitals for the first time.
Also a not-for-profit company, Grand Pacific Health has been trading as Illawarra-Shoalhaven Medicare Local and has focused on facilitating, integrating and coordinating primary health care in the Illawarra Shoalhaven region.
Winner of the 2014 Australian Business Award for Employer of Choice, IRT is a community based seniors lifestyle and care provider.
The changes to Medicare Local come on the back of other significant federal government changes due to the 2015-2020 Job Services tender where organisations Campbell Paige, Youth Connect and Mission Australia have recently lost out.
Four out of the 28 new primary health networks involve a private health insurer in the winning bid.
