Outcome 6: Rural Health > Outcome Performance Report

Major Achievements

• Helped ensure that rural and remote communities have access to aero-medical health services, through the finalisation of a new agreement with the Royal Flying Doctor Service that will provide funding to 30 June 2011.
• Supported more than 1,400 medical specialist outreach services across Australia through the continued implementation of the Medical Specialist Outreach Assistance Program, and set the base for the program’s expansion in 2008–09. This expansion will assist in addressing the comparatively higher burden of disease for people in rural and remote communities through the provision of new and/or expanded medical specialist services.
• Improved health infrastructure support for the delivery of health services to people living in rural and remote communities through the Rural Medical Infrastructure Fund.

Challenge

• Difficulties continued in recruiting and retaining a skilled health workforce in rural and remote areas.

Key Strategic Directions for 2007–08 – Major Activities

Ensured the Long-term Sustainability of the Royal Flying Doctor Service

A major achievement for the Department in 2007–08, was the finalisation of a new funding agreement with the Royal Flying Doctor Service to 30 June 2011, to help ensure its long-term sustainability. The Royal Flying Doctor Service will receive up to $247 million in funding from 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2011.

The Royal Flying Doctor Service is a significant provider of health care services in rural and remote Australia. The new agreement will fund the organisation’s recurrent and capital costs for the essential health care services it delivers to the ‘bush’, including emergency aero-medical evacuations, primary and community healthcare clinics, tele-health consultations and medical chests.

As part of the new arrangements, capital funding enabled the Royal Flying Doctor Service Central Operations Section to purchase an additional aircraft to provide health services for people living, working and travelling in Central Australia. Funding also helped extend health services to people living on the remote Bass Strait islands.

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Helped People in Rural and Remote Australia to Access Health Services

The Department managed a range of programs throughout the year to improve access by Australians living in rural and remote areas to primary health care services.

Regional Health Services Program

The Department supported the Regional Health Services Program to provide supplementary primary health care services in small rural and remote communities. A challenge was attracting a skilled workforce to these services, due to the physical and professional isolation, lower level of infrastructure availability and higher cost of living in such communities. The Department continued to work with its key stakeholders to identify alternative models of service delivery in order to maintain services. Future funding allocations for the Regional Health Services Program will be monitored and adjusted as appropriate to ensure a continuing level of access to services for people in rural and remote communities.

Despite the difficulties in attracting skilled medical practitioners and allied health workers, the program continued to achieve good outcomes in providing access to primary health care services in over 1,000 rural and remote communities across Australia. This program is well regarded by stakeholders, such as the National Rural Health Alliance, who regard the program as making a valuable contribution to the provision of primary health care services such as allied health, community nursing and mental health services in small communities.

Medical Specialist Outreach Assistance Program

The Medical Specialist Outreach Assistance Program continued to deliver a wide range of medical specialist services to people living in rural and remote communities by providing financial support to specialists delivering outreach services such as dermatology, obstetrics and gynaecology, ophthalmology, paediatric, physician, psychiatry, radiology and surgical services. The Department supported the program through funding for more than 1,400 medical specialist outreach services to rural and remote communities across Australia.

Rural Private Access Program

Rural and remote communities had increased access to privately insurable health services, and improvements to the viability and sustainability of small private hospitals due to the Rural Private Access Program. Through this program, the Department administered funding for the purchase of essential medical and surgical equipment, and upgrades to patient management systems, in addition to capital works and refurbishments to small rural private hospitals and premises for allied health services.

Rural Medical Infrastructure Fund

Through the Rural Medical Infrastructure Fund, the Department helped small rural communities to establish ‘walk‑in, walk‑out’ health and medical facilities, with the aim of making it easier for these communities to recruit and retain medical practitioners and allied health professionals. ‘Walk-in, walk-out’ medical facilities provide medical and heath practitioners with access to established infrastructure and practice management services, thereby enabling practitioners to undertake their clinical duties without the need to operate an independent practice. ‘Walk-in, walk-out’ medical facilities may be owned and managed by organisations including local councils, Divisions of General Practice and Indigenous Community Councils.

Responsibility for the fund transferred to the Department of Health and Ageing from the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government in March 2008. A major achievement for the Department in this short time was the funding of six projects, including the Violet Town Medical Centre in Victoria and the Charleville Medical Centre in Queensland, providing much needed infrastructure to support the delivery of health services to people living in rural Australia.

Programs Specific to Rural Health

Rural health activities were also implemented across several other outcomes in 2007-08. The following table lists these activities by outcome.

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Table 2.3.6.1: Rural Programs Listed by Outcome

Outcome	Rural Health Activity
Outcome 2	Rural and Remote Pharmacy Allowance and Support Program – Scholarships Enhanced Rural and Remote Pharmacy Package
Outcome 3	Visiting Optometrists Scheme Additional Practice Nurses in Rural Australia and Other Areas of Need – Medicare Items
Outcome 4	Multipurpose Services Program Rural and Regional Building Fund (and Viability Supplement) Aged Care Adjustment Grants for Small Rural Facilities Australian Government Aged Care Nursing Scholarship Program Training for Remote Aged Care Staff Viability Supplement for Community Aged Care in Rural and Remote Areas Targeted Capital Assistance (Rural Australia)
Outcome 5	Practice Incentives Program Additional Practice Nurses in Rural Australia and Other Areas of Need – Practice Incentives Program Payment Training for Rural and Remote Procedural GPs Program Rural and Remote General Practice Rural Locum Relief Program Rural Women’s GP Service Rural Retention Program More Allied Health Services Program HECS Reimbursement Scheme New General Practitioner Registrars Workforce Support for Rural General Practitioners Strengthening the Health Workforce in Rural and Remote Areas and in Indigenous Communities Rural Registrars Incentives Payments Scheme Prevocational General Practice Placements Program
Outcome 6	Multipurpose Centre Program Royal Flying Doctor Service Regional Health Services Sub Program Rural Primary Health Projects Sub Program incorporating Building Healthy Communities and National Rural Primary Health Projects Rural Private Access Program Rural Medical Infrastructure Fund Medical Specialist Outreach Assistance Program Better Management of Rural Health Programs (Council of Australian Governments)
Outcome 10	Supporting Women in Rural Areas Diagnosed with Breast Cancer Rural Palliative Care Program
Outcome 11	Mental Health Services in Rural and Remote Areas (Council of Australian Governments) Mental Health Support for Drought Affected Communities
Outcome 12	Additional Practice Nurses in Rural Australia and Other Areas of Need – Training and Support Rural Clinical Schools University Departments of Rural Health Rural Australia Medical Undergraduate Scheme Medical Rural Bonded Scholarships Medical Rural Bonded Scholarship Support Scheme John Flynn Scholarship Recruitment, Support, Coordination and Assistance for Overseas Trained Doctors Rural Undergraduate Support and Coordination Program Rural Health Support, Education and Training Program Rural Health Education Foundation Rural and Remote Nursing Scholarship Program Rural Allied Health Undergraduate and Postgraduate Scholarship Schemes Advanced Specialist Training Posts in Rural Areas Rural Advanced Specialist Training Support Support Scheme for Rural Specialists Dental Training – Expanding Rural Placements Specialist Obstetrician Locum Scheme Remote Vocational Training Scheme
Outcome 13	Improving access to primary care services in rural and remote areas (Council of Australian Governments)