Equity in primary health care delivery: an examination of the cohesiveness of strategies relating to the primary healthcare system, the health workforce and hepatitis C.

Conclusions Actions in the primary healthcare system and health workforce strategies should be extended to additional groups beyond those listed as priority groups within the strategies. Future hepatitis C strategies should outline appropriate, detailed needs assessment methodologies and specify how actions in the broad strategies can be applied to benefit the primary healthcare needs of people with hepatitis C. What is known about the topic? Australian general practitioners in private practice are important providers of primary healthcare. The Australian federal government has policy and funding responsibility for primary healthcare. In 2010-11 the Australian Federal Labour Government launched three policy strategies in the areas of the primary healthcare system, health workforce and hepatitis C. Each included the aims of addressing equity and access issues. Hepatitis C is a significant health issue in Australia. GPs are well placed to play a part in diagnosing, managing and treating hepatitis C; however, there are barriers to the provision of appropriate care. There appears to be no recognition of the value of cohesion across the broad strategies and the Hepatitis C Strategy, and no framework for this to occur. What does this paper add? This paper provides an analysis of the cohesiveness of the concurrent Hepatitis C Strategy and national primary healthcare strategies by examining the content relating to the provision of healthcare in private general practice, with an empha...
Source: Australian Health Review - Category: Hospital Management Authors: Tags: Aust Health Rev Source Type: research