National Health Reform Agreement Addendum mid-term review: submission by

Further, since the development of previous strategies and frameworks, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of rural Australians due to the lack of capacity in the rural health system. [...] A variety of options are needed to improve access to affordable health care tailored to the needs, and drawing on the strengths, of local communities and to support sustainable primary care solutions in rural and remote communities now and into the future. [...] The improved synthesis, analysis and publication of data related to the primary healthcare system, including data collected by PHNs and by the Department of Health and Aged Care itself, would add considerable value to the sector and enable the development of a more detailed and accurate understanding of various health and social care measures. [...] The Alliance supports the work of the Department of Health and Aged Care through the development of the Health Demand and Supply Utilisation Patterns Planning (HeaDS UPP) Tool and requests that the Department be resourced appropriately to support this planning tool and provide greater access to the data in the tool, with the ability to widely publish the data that the HeaDS UPP tool provides. [...] A variety of options are needed to improve access to affordable health care tailored to the needs, and drawing on the strengths, of local communities and to support sustainable primary care solutions in rural and remote communities now and into the future.