Submissions are prepared on behalf of and in consultation with members and are aimed at driving change to legislation and State and Commonwealth policy.
Victoria’s health system has been under considerable and sustained stress since the onset of the pandemic. Community health services have created innovative programs to deliver care within the community, assisting in primary care responses and vaccine delivery. Metropolitan and regional health services have provided quality healthcare when the system’s workforce has been stretched to capacity, while the state’s ambulances experienced record callout demand. A renewed emphasis on building capacity, public health initiatives, system coordination and out-of-hospital care have led to new forms of health interventions that have improved the health outcomes for Victorians.
The VHA’s proposed solutions in this briefing are centred on building on the healthcare system’s strengths as part of its pandemic response, with focus on supporting the system’s workforce, outreach to the community and connections with other services.
This pre-budget submission is focused on recovery and avoiding a return to the status quo and the ‘old normal’. The learnings of 2020 coupled with the prospect of a reimagined public health system offers many opportunities to create a fit-for-purpose system in a ‘COVID-normal’ and post pandemic world.
While the VHA is calling on the Victorian Government to provide an immediate ‘band aid’ of funding to enable the system to function effectively in the short-term, few would agree that continuous increases in funding is sustainable nor would many agree that injections of funds is appropriate without fundamental shifts in the way care is delivered. The VHA calls on the government to fund new approaches now, focused on wellness and a holistic view of a person, to relieve pressure and better plan for demand of the future.
DownloadThe VHA has made a number of recommendations on behalf of its members, for the Victorian Government Budget 2019-20. The budget submission can be found at the link
DownloadThe VHA’s State Budget 2018-19 recommendations are focused on a range of separate but interlinked areas, encompassing workforce, innovation, digital health, funding, managing demand and supporting care, and infrastructure.
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