Reform journey
The Health Reform Committee (HRC) was appointed by the State Government in March 2003 to develop a vision for the Western Australian health system while ensuring that the growth of the health budget was sustainable. The Health Reform Committee’s final report ‘A Healthy Future for Western Australians’ (PDF 2.01MB) was published on 29 March 2004. This provided a blue print for reforming the WA health system into a robust, integrated and sustainable service.
The Government’s endorsement of the HRC report’s recommendations set the agenda for the regeneration of public health services in Western Australia over the next decade. The reform program also focuses on improving WA Health’s organisational structures, management practices and leadership capability to ensure a solid foundation for long-term change, improvement and innovation.
The Health Reform Implementation Taskforce (HRIT) commenced operations on 2 August 2004 with the challenging task of driving the health reform changes by implementing the recommendations of the HRC's final report.
The integration of the reform program into the core business of WA Health is regarded as a key success factor to the achievement of reform outcomes. This has been achieved with health reform now embedded within all parts of the organisation via WA Health’s Strategic Intent 2005-2010 (PDF 433KB) and the alignment of the health system priorities into six healthy directions – Workforce, Hospitals (and health services and infrastructure), Partnerships, Communities, Resources, and Leadership.
As such, responsibility for the implementation and the continuous development of the reform program has transitioned to relevant areas within the operating structure of the organisation.
The annual Operational Plan (PDF 633KB) outlines priorities, milestones and targets for the WA Health system and are designed to keep WA Health heading in the right direction.
Delivering improvement in the health system involves the whole system working together to drive transformation, within WA Health, with community partners and other government and non-government agencies, for the common benefit of improved access and standards of care for patients.
These improvements are being achieved through:
- Integrated, system wide, long term planning linked to best practice health care evidence and clinical reform.
- Building leadership capacity and capability at every level of the organisation and aspect of the health care system.
- Developing a greater understanding of those factors which drive our costs in order to deliver better value to the community for the health care dollar invested.
- $4.1billion capital investment plan over the next 10 years which will include the building of new hospitals and the redevelopment and upgrading of existing one throughout the state.
- Making improvements to health service quality and access in a climate of increasing demand and significant workforce shortages.
Read more about the progress of the first three years of reform:
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