COVID-19

As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, we mobilised our team to ensure we could adapt and respond to a rapidly changing environment.  

As part of the state and federal health system, our focus was to work in partnership with governments, other organisations, health professionals and our funded service providers to ensure the Western Australian community could continue to access high quality primary health care.

Key Achievements - Primary Care Readiness and Support

• Facilitated the establishment of 12 GP Respiratory Clinics in WA, as part of the national primary health response to COVID-19.
  

• Developed and deployed the logistical strategy to distribute masks from the National Stockpile to GPs and pharmacies across WA, with almost 222,000 masks distributed in the first three months.

• Facilitated a series of Virtual Communities of Practice events focusing on key topics confronting general practice.
  
• Supported general practice and commissioned service providers to interpret rapidly evolving federal and state government policies, particularly with regard to MBS telehealth items, telehealth and electronic prescribing through targeted and timely updates.
  
• Supported the Australian Government with evidence-based selection of Respiratory Clinic locations through developing interactive maps that plotted available health services (including emergency departments) against populations more vulnerable to poor health outcomes as a result of COVID-19.
  
• Supported pandemic planning initiatives through securing access to a data feed of up to date information on COVID-19 cases and hotspot locations.
  
• Supported commissioned service providers during COVID-19 with up-to-date advice, readiness plans, resources and additional funding to increase workforce mobility and assure the safety of their staff and clients.
  

Key Achievements - Advocacy and communication

• Advocated nationally as part of the national PHN network to amplify the important role of PHNs in stewarding primary care through the pandemic.
  
• Advocated on behalf of primary care through participation in various health and social services interagency bodies on topics including influenza vaccine supplies, private pathology providing COVID-19 testing, inclusion of GPs in COVID-19 patient discharge pathways, inclusion of a person’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status on pathology request forms and, overall, improved communication between hospitals and GPs.
  
• Provided free access to EAP counselling services to WA general practice teams and our commissioned service providers to help navigate the COVID-19 response, including assistance to deal with the pressures that arise professionally and personally.
  
• Negotiated an unprecedented partnership with six medical and health agencies to produce a daily COVID-19 bulletin for GPs.
  
• Our See Your GP campaign materials developed in response to a decrease in general practice presentations (believed to be related to COVID-19 fears), were seen online more than 5 million times and downloaded more than 1000 times by general practices and other organisations. The campaign also reached close to half a million newspaper readers.
  
• Produced a concise guide to accessing mental health and alcohol and other drug support during COVID-19, to help referrers and patients to find the services they needed.
  
• Launched a COVID-19 mental health support campaign, garnering 10 million views. Read our case study.
  

Key Achievements - Supporting our staff

• Supported our staff and stakeholders to navigate the pandemic through establishing Emergency Response and Plan Ahead Teams to help our workforce transition to working remotely and make subsequent decisions about the way we work. Read our case study.
  
• Focused on shaping WAPHA to emerge as a stronger, agile organisation, including exploring the many possibilities caused by the disruption of COVID-19 and reimagining our ways of working and interacting with our stakeholders.