Keeping Medicare Locals local better for rural health

In a submission to the Department of Health and Ageing, the National Rural Health Alliance has urged that the new Medicare Locals (MLs) must be well-resourced, small enough in size to meet local needs, and work in close partnership with the Local Hospital Networks (LHNs).

Alliance deputy chair, Kathy Kirkpatrick, said that for MLs that serve rural and remote communities, resourcing needs to take account of the service gaps, fewer health professionals, chronic Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) underfunding, and the patient transport and health infrastructure needs that exist in those places.

“It is important for Medicare Locals to be framed around genuine communities of interest and to reflect the way local people access health services. It is not logical for them to be limited by state borders,” Dr Kirkpatrick said.

The Alliance argues that for MLs to make a real difference in health outcomes for rural people, they must be small enough in size to engage with local professionals, businesses, educational institutions and local governments, and to address community needs.

The Alliance’s submission also recommends that MLs and LHNs work closely together in strategic planning, community engagement and coordination of services. It points out the advantages of a common approach to workforce planning, performance reporting and needs-based assessments in the community. 

“MLs and LHNs should have clear and complementary responsibilities to reflect their common objective of better health for their communities.

“In rural and remote areas where small local hospitals are an integral part of primary, aged and subacute care, there should be scope to establish a joint ML and LHN organisation that can take advantage of their close interdependencies with each other and with the local health professionals.

“Of the 15 Medicare Locals to be established by July next year, the Alliance is asking for at least one to be jointly established with a Local Hospital Network, with the agreement of local service providers and community members, as an opportunity for a rural region to demonstrate the value of a fully unified health network,” said Dr Kirkpatrick.

The Alliance’s full submission is available at http://www.ruralhealth.org.au