Health Portfolio Structure
Source: National Commission of Audit.
There are 22 bodies within the Health Portfolio, along with numerous associated boards, councils and committees.
The Commission proposes three broad actions to address the number of bodies in Health.
- Establish a single National Health and Medical Research Institute.
- Establish a new Health Productivity and Performance Commission.
- Consolidate a number of remaining bodies into the Department of Health.
The Commission recognises that many elements of Australia’s health system are underpinned by cooperation between the Commonwealth and the States. As such some of the approaches recommended below may require consultation with the States.
National Health and Medical Research Institute
The creation of a new national health institutes flagship would combine the National Health and Medical Research Council, Cancer Australia and the research budget of the Australian National Preventative Health Agency.
The new institute would align and fully embed health and medical research in the health system. This would improve patient outcomes and deliver efficiencies by improving the evidence base available to clinicians and patients.
Health Productivity and Performance Commission
Multiple agencies now collect data and report on health outcomes. The Commission considers it is possible to improve data collection, analysis and information to inform decisions on health-related measures.
A new independent Health Productivity and Performance Commission could coordinate, report and drive performance across the health care system. This would include identifying innovative options to increase efficiency across the sector and publicly reporting health performance statistics and outcomes. Corporate functions would be supplied by the Department of Health.
The commission would be formed through a merger of the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the Australian National Health Performance Authority, components of the Australian National Preventative Health Agency, the Private Health Insurance Administration Council, the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority, the National Health Funding Body and the National Mental Health Commission.
Consolidation of agencies into the Department of Health
The Commission also recommends five bodies be considered for consolidation into the Department of Health.
- Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority and National Blood Authority, which could be brought together within the department to harness expertise.
- General Practice Education and Training Ltd and Health Workforce Australia, which could be brought together as a clinical training unit.
- The Professional Services Review scheme.
Source: NCO