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AMA WA ACTION AGENDA

GOVERNANCE

Independent review of WA Health Corporate Governance

WHAT WE WANT

The WA Government should commence a WA Health corporate governance review, conducted by a panel of experts with an independent chair.

The establishment of a Safety and Quality Integrity Unit to review processes, and strengthen investigation and reporting of matters of safety and quality, ensuring action is taken by administrators and that healthcare workers have an avenue to raise safety concerns, make recommendations and report inaction.

WHY WE WANT IT

Western Australians are experiencing first-hand the damaging consequences of poor and unclear WA Health governance structures.

The recent review into clinical governance in WA’s public mental health system is an obvious example – it found unclear leadership, poor integration, lack of a system-wide plan and limited support for quality and innovation in WA’s mental health system.

Doctors continue to report the deleterious impact of WA Health’s current corporate governance structures. Poor metrics and outcomes indicate that the governance structure of WA Health is not working at an acceptable level.

  • WA Health’s health service providers (HSPs) do not employ their chief executive officers.
  • HSPs act in silos, creating inefficiency and redundancy of activities that is costly and duplicated.
  • Multiple layers of apparently responsible parties make it far too easy to deflect accountability to alternative authorities.
  • The current governance framework does not allow the dedicated, professional and committed public sector workers in WA to make the required system improvements. Poor governance impacts quality and safety.

WHEN IT’S DONE

WA gets all the benefits of improved service efficiency and patient outcomes, with lower morbidity and mortality rates across the State.

BACK TO ACTION AGENDA

AMA (WA) ACTION AGENDA

612 more public hospital beds Health budget increase of 5-6% p.a. for 4 years Save WA’s emergency departments from collapse
Amend Health Services Act to better support doctors A Fair Go: Job Security For Senior Doctors A Fair Go: Portability & Retention Of Entitlements For Doctors Legal privilege for healthcare workers during investigations
State-wide electronic medical record Enhanced services and clinical governance at new women and babies hospital Improved telehealth services and capacity
GP Primary Care Taskforce Independent review of WA Health Corporate Governance Decision-making transparency
Interim quarantine facility Best-practice workplace safety & improved processes to prevent COVID breaches Commonwealth quarantine facility