What is EHSDI?
Expanding Health Service Delivery Initiative (EHSDI) is part of the joint initiative between the Australian Government and Northern Territory Government to progress both Governments' Closing the Gap policies and address Aboriginal disadvantage, with substantial funding allocated to improve access to health and education services. Primary Health service delivery in the Northern Territory is in the midst of significant reform in the following:
The roll-out of expanded comprehensive primary health care services funded through the EHSDI is a partnership between the Australian and Territory governments and the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory. At the same time, there is investment to strengthen systems and capacity of organisations to enhance community control and establish regional health service models. This process is referred to as Regionalisation
- Primary Health Care system development
- Expansion of Primary Health Care service provision
- Movement to Aboriginal Community Controlled service management; and
- Delivery of Health services at a regional or Health Service Delivery Area (HSDA) level.
The Australian Government has committed $99.7million over two years from July 2008 for EHSDI. The roll-out of this initiative involves partnerships between the Aboriginal Medical Service Alliance NT (AMSANT) and the NT Department of Health and Families (DHF) and Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) through the Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health (OATSIH). It provides for the delivery of expanded regionally based primary health care services in remote NT Aboriginal communities and town camps, to support more efficient and comprehensive primary health care.
In the 2008 - 09 financial year the $38.9 million EHSDI investment will include:
| Area | Investment |
|---|---|
| Remote Area Health Corps | $5 million |
| Expanded Primary Health Care Services | $20.2 million |
| Regionalisation | $7 million |
| Capital & Infrastructure | $6 million (eg. staff housing, clinic refurbishments, Information Technology / Information Management) |
| Evaluation | $700, 000 |
Remote Area Health Corps
The Remote Area Health Corps (RAHC) agency has been established as part of EHSDI, to supplement the recruitment efforts of Aboriginal medical services and the Department. The RAHC agency will have a focus on the recruitment of urban-based health professionals to provide increased primary health care through job sharing, fly-in/fly-out and other outreach arrangements.
Service Expansion
All remote Primary Health Care providers have delivered investment plans for Primary Health Care service expansion to Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health. The investment plans are based on a gap analyses against the Department's Primary Health Care core services document.
Regionalisation
The use of a Regional approach is designed to ensure efficient and sustainable core service delivery, based on economies of scale and sustainable service populations. Within regionalisation there is a commitment to community control and a document 'Pathways to Community Control' has been developed and endorsed by the Northern Territory Aboriginal Health Forum.
A regional approach to Health Service Delivery Areas will enable health services to work together cooperatively and with increased community consultation and participation in health planning. The partners have agreed that moving to a single service provider in each region isthe optimum outcome but that there will be no forced amalgamation of services.
The primary objectives of the Expanding Health Service Delivery Initiative are to:
- Improve access to services
- Increased participation of Aboriginal people in the health and community sectors (workforce development)
- Increased community participation in health service planning and delivery
- Build health literacy and self management capability
- Reduce inequality in health status
- Provide culturally secure, safe, high quality health care
- Promote a patient (family) centred continuum of care
- Ensure value for money
- Optimise current bundles of services (NGO and DHF) through designated health Service Delivery Areas
- Improve the balance of preventative, primary and acute care
- Be financially sustainable as an integrated system of care
- Develop Service delivery models and employment conditions that support the recruitment and retention of health professionals a highly skilled and dedicated workforce