Evaluating health care services and programs is important because it helps us understand whether they are meeting the needs of consumers and communities. We are interested in looking at how well a service works, who is using it, and what outcomes it produces. The pressure on the health budget means we need to evaluate services to see how they are making a positive difference to people’s health.
HCCA advocates for health care is safe, effective, and focused on the people it is meant to help. Evaluation is key to that. By measuring performance, comparing it to standards and community expectations, and learning from successes and mistakes, health services can improve what they do over time.
Evaluation also helps identify issues, such as gaps in care, inefficiencies, or unintended consequences. Changes can be made to improve the quality and safety of care, consumer experience, support for staff and reduce any waste of resources.
Evaluation supports transparency and accountability, and it helps build public trust in the health system. Ultimately, evaluation drives improvement, so that health care can keep adapting and delivering the best outcomes for everyone.
There are two areas of the ACT Health system we want to see evaluated.
Walk in Centres are highly valued by the community. HCCA is a strong supporter of this model of care and the affordable and timely access to care it provides for consumers. Still, Walk in Centres have been in place for about 15 years and it is time to evaluate the program.
GPs have been calling for an evaluation to determine whether the Walk in Centres offer value for money or reduce the load on the hospital.
We hear from Government that the service is safe and meeting community need. From GPs we hear concerns about fragmentation, that nurses are working outside their scope of practice and there are risks to patient safety. Both have strong vested interests in this. We often hear positive stories about Walk in Centres from consumers. Our call for evaluation is more about transparency and accountability than concerns about safety of care. It is time for an independent evaluation.
The Digital Health Record has been in place for almost three years. We want to see an evaluation to see if it has delivered the benefits that were identified in the planning stages. Has it delivered improvements in the quality and safety of care? There was a DHR Program Review by KPMG but it was focused on financial management, administration and program governance. We want to understand the difference this significant investment has made to improving care, reducing adverse events such as medication errors, reducing duplication of tests and treatments, improving connection with health care treating team and supporting consumers to be more active in their own care. | 
