Key Drivers and Imperatives

Health workforce shortages and changing work expectations and participation rates are placing increased pressure on the system and this will increase expectations on the CEC to provide solutions to these issues.
Related workforce issues are the changing skills mix and career expectations of staff, which will have implications for the CEC’s initiatives. In particular there are significant shifts in expectations about working conditions and work practices that will require new approaches.

Socio-demographic changes in the patient population are resulting in significant pressures on the delivery of health care, particularly in relation to population relocation and ageing.
Widespread use of electronic sources of health care information has created a better informed and more articulate consumer population which expects the health care system to operate at an optimal level in terms of safety and quality; which wants to have confidence in that system; and which expects open disclosure practices across all health disciplines when there is an adverse event.

These pressures will impact on resource allocation and models of health care. They will require a focus on the management of chronic disease in ambulatory/ community care settings, multi-disciplinary care, and an increased focus on primary / preventative care..
Finally, the current national discourse on Australian Government / State arrangements for funding health care needs to be monitored on an ongoing basis.

From this analysis the following strategic imperatives emerge as key to the CEC’s success in achieving its mission in the next three years:

Strengthen the CEC’s profile and influence
Build skills and capacity within the CEC and across the health system, including leadership capacity
Develop and implement targets based on available data, and
Build partnerships with stakeholders.