Past Events
The half-day event featured an invited presentation from Professor Kathy Eagar “Aged Care Homes: The Weakest COVID-19 Link” and 13 short oral presentations from HSRAANZ members on Telehealth and Primary Care; Discrete Choice and Preference Studies; Models of Care and Genomics.
We would all like to believe that the best possible evidence informs health policy. Unfortunately, the translation of evidence into policy is not a simple process. So how do we make our research more accessible and useful to policy makers?
This was the dilemma tackled by 25 academic and clinical researchers at a two-day course presented by the Health Services Research Association of Australia and New Zealand (HSRAANZ), the Deeble Institute for Health Policy Research and the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association (AHHA) in Sydney on 3 and 4 September, at the Sydney Policy Lab, curtesy of Sydney Health Partners. Read More
(Slides for the Forum are only available to HSRAANZ Members and Forum delegates)
This one-day forum brought together stakeholders with experience in PROMS and PREMs to advance the health services research agenda.
During the morning delegates heard from experts in the field about the application of PROMs and PREMs in government programs, Clinical Practice, General Practice and NGOs and peak consumer bodies.
The afternoon featured short oral presentations in two streams and provided an opportunity to learn about the latest research and leadership in the areas of PROMs and PREMs for quality assurance and benchmarking and PROMs to guide clinical care.
The concluding break-out sessions debated the key challenges and opportunities, and where to from here.
Plenary Speakers
- Catherine Katz – Director, Safety and Quality Improvement Systems and Intergovernmental Relations Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare
- Jean-Frederic Levesque – Chief Executive, NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation
- Dominique Cadilhac –Head Translational Public Health and Evaluation Division, Stroke and Ageing Research, School of Clinical Sciences, Monash University
- Ian Harris – Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, UNSW Sydney
- Tim Usherwood – Professor of General Practice at the University of Sydney; Honorary Professorial Fellow at the George Institute for Global Health; and Deputy Chair of Western Sydney PHN.
- Shilpa Jesudason – Nephrologist, Chair, CNARTS Clinical Research Group and Clinical Director, Kidney Health Australia
The theme for the day was Health Services Research – where to from here? A review of the state and potential of HSR in Australia and New Zealand Full Program
The day commenced with a presentation from Suzanne Robinson of Curtin University and member of the HSRAANZ Executive Committee on the preliminary results of the HSRAANZ commissioned study of the state and potential of Health Services Research in Australia and New Zealand. (Slides) (Please note that the slides contain preliminary data only which could change as the study progresses.)
Suzanne explained that as the the peak body for HSR in Australian and New Zealand the HSRAANZ has a major role in assisting health services researchers and policy makers to meet the challenges facing the health system in the 21st Century. In order to inform the Association's strategy over the next decade we have commissioned a study to provide a clearer picture of the current state of health services research in Australia and New Zealand.
Newcastle University Team
The evaluation team from University of Newcastle team is Dr Elizabeth Fradgley, A/Prof Christine Paul, Prof John Wiggers, Prof Deborah Loxton, Dr Catherine Chojenta, and Dr Melissa Harris. With support from Della Roach, Emma Byrnes, and Annika Ryan.
Prof Jon Karnon President of the HSRAANZ then spoke on the opportunities offered by the MRFF and Mark Booth and Erica Kneipp from the Department of Health responsed on the challenges facing health services and primary health care research and the opportunities offered by the MRFF; research translation centres and emphasis on evidence based policy and greater data availability. (Slides).
The morning concluded with examples of the best and most impactful health services research nominated for the HSRAANZ Impact Award (details attached)
Breakout Sessions
The event concluded with breakout sessions addressing the potential role and approaches to HSR in different healthcare sectors:
A. Data infrastructure
What makes a useful clinical registry?
- Need for transparency (quality, standards, integrity)
- Clinical Registry – for data linkage; opt out system; other governance issues.
- Long term as appropriate.
- Regular reviews of minimum data sets.
What are the data linkage priorities?
- Going national, linking of hospital collections, MBS and PBS data and national death index are most important
- Also cancer, ED, administration, perinatal.
- Rationalise governance and ethics.
Is patient reported outcomes data a priority? If so, how could it be supported?
- Yes – quality of life
- Fit for purpose – generic and disease specific
- Clinical care vs research
- Utility based measures
- Link to clinical registries
What are other data infrastructure priorities?
- Linkage of Federal data sets. Health plus
- Cloud governance
- Trusted user model to other data sets and linked data sets.
B. Consumer Engagement
Why engage with them?
- Exertise/lived experience/understand patient/community preferences
Who?
- Partners/agents/consumers/patient/person/community.
Should they be renumerated?
- Paying can take away altruism.
- Alternative is non- monetary gifts.
When should they be involved?
- Always
- Early in priority setting
- KT at start.
How should they be involved?
- Consumer Health Forum
- Representatives
- Panels/ citizens juries.
- Facilitate by funding agencies etc.
- Oversight opportunities
C. Implementation and improvement in public hospitals
- Need junior doctors in research positions. Research needs to be part of their rotation and well resourced.
- Need to infiltrate clinical microsystems. Research related to clinical work. Snr Drs need to train juniors.
- Need a critical mass of clinical researchers, with collaboration across smaller hospitals.
- Need to include nursing and allied health
- Need clinician led research and practice based research.
- Undertake a survey of what clinicians need – time, funds, mentoring etc.
- Simpson Centre clinician led NHMRC program grant.
- Clinicians now more involved in health policy and provide a good opportunity to grow HSR.
- NIR - put HSR on the agenda; leadership program; Fellowships
- Horizons gap – need to predict gaps and have solutions ready.
- Joint clinical and academic appointments. Harder in some areas. Senior doctors need training in mentoring. Junior doctors need training in research methods.
D. How to fund research in primary health care?
Should PHNs be allocated research budgets? For what scope and with what support?
- They are already overworked so research budgets should be managed by others
- But they are well placed to undertake research.
- They have great billing data, but limited diagnostic data.
- Opportunities – well positioned in rural and urban centres
If not, how else to fund and organise research in PHC?
- Universities may have a role working with them.
- Consider more joint appointment (academic and PHN-based) health services researchers
The College of GPs conducts an annual electronic survey of its members. Nearly 2,500 responses to the 2015 survey were received, giving a response rate of 54% and providing valuable insights into the state of the GP workforce. Results revealed that among currently working respondents, 41% intended to retire in the next 10 years, 56% were aged 50 years or over and 53% were female. Information was also gathered on topics including practice ownership, vacancies, income, working hours, after hours commitments, and how likely members were to recommend a career in general practice. Female respondents earned less than their male colleagues and possible reasons for this difference will be discussed. In addition to the results of the 2015 RNZCGP survey, information from successive Medical Council Workforce Surveys will be presented to illustrate how the age profile of general practitioners became so skewed towards the older age groups and to illustrate the recent increase in the number of younger GPs.
Frances Townsend is a senior policy advisor with the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners. She graduated from Otago University with a medical degree in 1983, and went on to train as a general practitioner. She completed a Diploma in Public Health in 2003 and has worked for the Ministry of Health and for the past 10 years the College of General Practitioners on issues including the Health and General Practitioner workforce.
Attahced is a summary of feedback from our latest event which focused on including consumers’ voices in designing, undertaking and translating research. This interactive semi-structured conversational event encouraged exchange between researchers, clinicians, policy makers and consumers about their personal and practical challenges experienced in addressing research-policy-practice gaps.
Background
Transforming Health is intended to bring about a permanent change in systems and the culture of healthcare delivery. The vision is to deliver a quality healthcare system that provides best care, first time, every time. It has six quality principles to transform the system: patient centred, safe, effective, accessible, efficient and equitable.
While the focus is on improving metropolitan hospital services in South Australia, there will be flow-on effects, particularly in primary health care, aged care and country health services. Indeed, there is a commitment to work in partnership with General Practice, Primary Health Care, and the health industry.
As well as ensuring health care professionals are driving the initiative, engagement and consultation with community and consumers has been a significant component of the initiative to date and providing a time and place to contribute your Research Ideas
To support the research process, the Health Services Research Association of Australia and New Zealand (HSRAANZ), Primary Health Care Research & Information Service (PHCRIS), the South Australian Health & Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) and Cancer Voices convened a Transforming Health Research Workshop. The aim was for researchers, health care professionals and managers, policy makers and consumers advocates to come together to share Research Ideas that could usefully inform the success of Transforming Health. We sought multidisciplinary approaches to cross–fertilise our thinking from the outset and shape how we work together. We asked for bold ideas. Ideas that do more than ‘improve’ but actually inform the implementation, monitor, evaluate and report the impact of ‘Transforming Health’. Research can identify what is working and why, what is not working and why, and any unintended consequences. It can examine what needs to be started, expanded or stopped.