Healthcare system overhaul links local health services in formal network

THE Victorian Government has announced the final geographical groupings of the state’s soon-to-be established Local Health Service Networks (LHSN), the centrepiece of a major overhaul planned for Victoria’s healthcare system.

Aimed at enabling greater collaboration and support between health services and deploying resources more effectively, 12 networks will be established across the state.

Each network will be centred on a major tertiary, women’s and children’s hospital, with formal relationships to be forged between public health services to strengthen referral pathways, improve access to specialists and enable the sharing of expertise.

The restructure follows a review of the design of Victoria’s system of public health services, conducted in 2023 by an independent committee.

The committee’s report, released to the public in August last year, exposed a healthcare system under increasing strain, in which the available resources were not well aligned to meet the community’s needs.

Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said the reforms will deliver better care by supporting health services to work together and ensuring local voices are heard.

“These networks will mean stronger referral pathways between health services – freeing up beds in busier hospitals, taking pressure off our dedicated workforce and ensuring Victorians get care sooner, closer to home,” she said.

“This is about expanding access to frontline services, particularly in regional and rural Victoria.”

Under the final LHSN groupings, Barwon Health will be brought together with Great Ocean Road Health, Hesse Rural Health Service and Colac Area Health.

It marks a shift away from the initial groupings recommended by the committee in its final report, which called for the health services spanning from Geelong to the South Australian border near Glenelg being linked together to form a single Barwon South West network.

This recommendation was based on the size of Geelong’s population, the proportion of medical and surgical specialists located in the area, as well as concerns a separate South West network would see the region left without the links it would need to benefit from the healthcare system restructure.

However, a Government spokesperson said the final groupings were determined following extensive consultation with health services.

In making the decision, the spokesperson said, consideration was given to population growth, community need, clinical capability and the distance between services.

“Hospitals in Barwon and South West have a strong history of treating patients within their own regions, and following this consultation, it was decided that maintaining those already streamlined patient pathways is what’s best for their communities,” the spokesperson said.

The established referral pathways have led to 91 per cent of the total hospital admissions in the Barwon region, and 85 per cent of admissions in the South West region, being treated locally.

For the minority of patients in the South West region who require care of a higher complexity, existing links between the health services there and those in the Barwon region have enabled patients to be referred to Barwon Health to access the services and specialists they need.

These strong links, along with any existing shared services between the two regions, are expected to be maintained despite the new LHSN groupings.

Barwon Health confirmed the arrangement.

“Barwon Health will work with the Department of Health and health services in the region on the implementation of the LHSN arrangements that are designed to improve collaboration across services for the benefit of our communities,” a Barwon Health spokesperson said.

“As the regional tertiary health service for the Barwon South-West region, we will continue to provide support to all the other health services across the region.

“Patients who need specialist care will continue to be referred to Barwon Health.”

The new networks are expected to begin operating on July 1.