Public Health: Analysis of the Australian Healthcare System

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Australian healthcare system, addressing key aspects such as system responsiveness, health service accessibility, and the impact on the Indigenous population. It examines the advantages and disadvantages of the current funding mechanisms, considering equity and efficiency. The report further explores health literacy, the roles of government in healthcare stewardship and governance, and the significance of primary healthcare. It identifies challenges faced by the Australian healthcare system, including chronic diseases, an aging population, and workforce pressures. The analysis includes discussions on how to improve health outcomes and address inequities, supported by relevant references and a bibliography. The report offers insights into improving the healthcare system and promoting better health outcomes for all Australians.

Health care System
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents.............................................................................................................................2
Question1.........................................................................................................................................3
Question2.........................................................................................................................................4
Question3.........................................................................................................................................5
Question4.........................................................................................................................................6
Question5.........................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................9
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Question1
Health care responsiveness relates to the ability of heath care system to anticipate and adapt
to the existing and future health care needs son that the patients can be treated effectively and
better health outcomes can be achieved. With the growing population and changing needs of
health care these systems must be developed so that they can efficiently meet the needs of
patients and help in improving their health conditions within reasonable time and efforts (Ahsan
and Rahman, 2017). The responsiveness of a health care system can be measured across various
domains like promptness in attention, communication, autonomy, access to family support,
quality of facilities provided, dignity with which patients are treated etc. It is important that the
healthcare responsiveness of Australia is improved so that prompt services can be provided to
patients that can help in improving the health and well-being of society. Australian healthcare
system is considered as one of the best in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OCED) however the system has come under intense pressure due to increase in
healthcare needs, costs, inequities, complex health conditions and the demand to improve health
outcomes. It is thus important that the accessibility to the healthcare system is increased for
people irrespective of the differences of people like religion, caste, age, sex, colour, ethnicity etc.
so that the inequities can be minimised and heath standards can be improved. This can also help
the country in achieving its healthcare objectives which are to build a customer-focused
integrated primary healthcare system, improve access and reduce inequity, increase health
promotion, improving quality, safety, accountability and performance of healthcare system of
country.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people are the indigenous people of Australia which
contribute 3.3% of the total population having their own set of languages, histories and culture.
The current status of indigenous health of people in Australia is poor compared to the rest of
Australian population. From various surveys it has been identified that 47% of the children and
young people in Northern Territory had hearing loss in 2018 (Healthcare of Indigenous
Australians .2020). 19% of the Indigenous disease burden in 2011 was due to mental health with
1 in 3 people having psychological disorders. It is important that the health system of Australia is
improved which can help in increasing the health conditions of people so that objectives of
healthcare system can be achieved effectively.
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Question2
Australia’s universal healthcare system is one of the best in the world which means that
proper funding is provided to healthcare organisations which help in improving the facilities that
are given by them. Currently Australia spends about 8.9% of its GDP on improving the
healthcare system in the country. Globally governments are finding ways so that equity can be
improved along with efficiency, effectiveness and responsiveness of healthcare systems. There
are various funding mechanisms that are followed in Australia so that better health benefits can
be provided to patients (Brotherton and Saville, 2016). The Australian Health Minister’s
Advisory Council (AHMAC) help in making healthcare decisions so that better training can be
provided to professionals so that health can be improved effectively and benefits can be given to
all. Following are the advantages and disadvantages of funding mechanism in Australia:
Advantages Disadvantages
 The funding mechanism helps in
effective distribution of funds so that
appropriate funds can be made
available to healthcare institutes so that
better services can be delivered to
patients.
 It help in increasing the responsiveness
of the healthcare system so that
changing needs of patients can e met
and they can be treated as per their
disease (Chen, 2016).
 It helps in improving the way in which
funds are utilised so that equity can be
increased in society and these services
can be made easily available to
patients.
 As the government provides the finds
to healthcare systems it can sometimes
face cuts or delays in reaching to the
systems so that they can be used in
appropriate manner.
 With the increasing costs of medical
infrastructure and increased demand for
healthcare facilities, the burden on
government to contribute more towards
improving health conditions has
increased which can affect the
responsiveness, efficiency,
effectiveness of services.
 It is important that equity in access to
healthcare services is increased which
becomes difficult through the
government funded mechanism.
In order to increase the equity, efficiency and effectiveness of Australian healthcare system
it is important that private funding is encouraged in the country along with increased benefit on
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these investments which can help in encouraging raising funds for the healthcare system. It can
also help in promoting equity so that all people can effectively approach to the healthcare
services and health in society can be promoted.
Question3
Health literacy is related with the degree to which an individual have the capacity to
understand, obtain and process basic health related information so that decisions regarding
improving health conditions can be made. It is important that people have health literacy so that
they can make informed decisions regarding their health issues and get advices so that their
health related problems can be reduced thereby improving the health of society. It is thus
essential that health literacy in the society is increased so that better health can be achieved in the
society thereby enhancing the well-being of society (Daly, McDonald and Willis, 2020).
The factors that affect health literacy generally depend on socio-economic conditions of the
society which relates to level of education, ethnicity, age of population, occupation, income level
etc. Following are the other factors that affect health literacy:
 Communication skills: It is the extent to which the health providers give information
regarding treatment given to them so that the person can well understand the information
and make informed decisions.
 Literacy level: It is related with the ability of a person to understand the information
which is provided to them through documents so that they can know about their health
condition and take appropriate decisions (Delaney, 2018).
 Culture: Culture of a person affects their perspectives and the way in which they
understand information which can also affect their decision process.
 Relation between patient and provider: The respectful and dignified relationship of
caretaker and patient also affect their knowledge about their health so that better
decisions can be made.
 Ability to navigate the healthcare system: It is the ability of a person to understand when
to take the help of health care system along with the knowledge of various healthcare
professionals so that they can seek better advice and make informed decisions.
It is important that effective strategies are used so that they can become more aware about
their health conditions so that better decisions can be made regarding improving their health. It is
important that the healthcare professionals convey the patients a few key point at each visit of
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patient so that they can understand about their health condition effectively. Also it is important
that jargon-free communication is used to enhance their understanding, use of pictures can be
done so that concepts can be clarified. The understanding of patient can be confirmed by asking
them to teach back about what they understood.
Question4
It is important that the government of a country follows stewardship and governance so as to
achieve its healthcare objectives so that highest efficiency and effectiveness can be achieved in
the healthcare system. Stewardship is related with enhancing the governance of data related to
healthcare system of a country so that maximum benefits can be achieved through its effective
management and utilisation. It is essential that mechanisms that can help in improving the
governance of healthcare system is implemented by the government which can help in improving
quality, responsiveness and effectiveness of the healthcare system (Dickinson and Schjenken,
2016). Australia has three levels of government: Federal or commonwealth, State of Territory
and local with each level having distinct responsibilities regarding healthcare needs of their
population. Broadly the Commonwealth government has certain responsibilities regarding the
healthcare system which includes Medicare which is a national scheme under which free or
subsidised access to clinically relevant medical, diagnostic and allied health services are given to
public and it is funded through 1.5% of Medicare tax levied by the Medicare Safety Net and
Extended Medicare Safety Net. Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) helps in providing
universal access to prescribed medicines. The purchase of vaccines can be done through National
Immunisation program; subsidies are given on aged care services through National Health and
Medical Research Council. Thus the Australian Federal Government help in providing various
benefits to its people so that high quality and effective services can be provided to them which
can help in improving the health conditions in Australia making it the best in terms of effective
health condition in the world (Healy, 2016).
Through stewardship and governance the government of Australia is able to track the
diseases effectively so that responsiveness of healthcare system can be increased so that the
changing needs with evolving diseases can be effectively met. The government also regulates the
private health insurance premiums so that the insured people can get maximum benefits from the
health insurance. The Australian population get free or subsidised access to a variety of
healthcare facilities which help in improving the health conditions of society. With the help of
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governance better facilities can be found that can help in elevating the health conditions in
society thereby enhancing the quality of medical infrastructure and improving overall population
health.
Question5
Primary health care is related with the essential health care services that are made available
to the people in a community at affordable costs so that the majority of health related problems
can be efficiently managed. This helps in making universal health care accessible to people so at
affordable rates through measures like community engagement and education, rational
prescribing along with core set of essential public health function including surveillance. These
centres help in offering professional medical care to the individuals before referring them to
advanced hospital based care so that basic health related problems can be solved at primary level
and at affordable costs (Lal and Leslie, 2017). This help in improving the healthcare system of a
community through continuous and comprehensive care to patients. These centres also help in
taking preventive measures so that chronic disease can be managed and self care can be
promoted. Australia’s health system faces certain challenges due to the increased burden of
chronic diseases, aging population, workforce pressures and unacceptable inequities in health
outcomes along with access to services. Primary healthcare systems can take effective measures
in dealing with the current and future challenges of Australian Health Care System as they can
help in providing equal and quality based services to all the classes of the society and also
through avoiding the racist differences. This can help in improving the health index among the
indigenous Australian population through equity in services. These centres can also help in
taking preventive actions at the initial stages so that chronic health diseases can be prevented and
health population can be achieved along with achieving the objectives of Australian healthcare
system. It is essential that the primary healthcare centres can improve their governance so that
the burden of preventable errors can be reduced thereby improving the effectiveness of
healthcare facilities provided to people (Langevin and Krahl, 2016). They can also help in
improving the knowledge of the patients related to their health conditions so that better decisions
regarding improvement in health can be made by the patients so that their health can be
improved. Thus the Primary healthcare can effectively help in effectively minimising the
challenges of the Australian Health care systems so that better health can be promoted in the
Australian population.
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References
Books and Journals
Ahsan, K. and Rahman, S., 2017. Green public procurement implementation challenges in
Australian public healthcare sector. Journal of Cleaner Production, 152, pp.181-197.
Brotherton, J.M., Gertig, D.M., May, C., Chappell, G. and Saville, M., 2016. HPV vaccine
impact in Australian women: ready for an HPV-based screening program. The Medical
Journal of Australia, 204(5), p.184.
Chen, T.F., 2016. Pharmacist-led home medicines review and residential medication
management review: the Australian model. Drugs & aging, 33(3), pp.199-204.
Daly, J., McDonald, I. and Willis, E., 2020. Researching health care. Routledge.
Delaney, L.J., 2018. Patient-centred care as an approach to improving health care in
Australia. Collegian, 25(1), pp.119-123.
Dickinson, H., Moss, T.J., Gatford, K.L., Moritz, K.M., Akison, L., Fullston, T., Hryciw, D.H.,
Maloney, C.A., Morris, M.J., Wooldridge, A.L. and Schjenken, J.E., 2016. A review of
fundamental principles for animal models of DOHaD research: an Australian
perspective. Journal of developmental origins of health and disease, 7(5), pp.449-472.
Healy, J., 2016. Improving health care safety and quality: reluctant regulators. Routledge.
Lal, L., Audsley, J., Murphy, D.A., Fairley, C.K., Stoove, M., Roth, N., Moore, R., Tee, B.K.,
Puratmaja, N., Anderson, P.L. and Leslie, D., 2017. Medication adherence, condom use
and sexually transmitted infections in Australian preexposure prophylaxis
users. Aids, 31(12), pp.1709-1714.
Langevin, J.P., Koek, R.J., Schwartz, H.N., Chen, J.W., Sultzer, D.L., Mandelkern, M.A.,
Kulick, A.D. and Krahl, S.E., 2016. Deep brain stimulation of the basolateral amygdala
for treatment-refractory posttraumatic stress disorder. Biological Psychiatry, 79(10),
pp.e82-e84.
Online
Healthcare of Indigenous Australians .2020. [Online] Available through:
<https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports-data/population-groups/indigenous-australians/
overview>
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