Page 1833 - Week 06 - Thursday, 30 July 2020
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• investing in initiatives such as Hospital in the Home (HITH), and the Geriatric Rapid Acute Care Evaluation (GRACE) program, which provides treatment in residential aged care facilities and aims to reduce emergency department presentations and hospital admissions;
• communicating strategies and educating consumers on their treatment options as an alternative to emergency; and
• targeting initiatives for known high demand periods, such as during flu seasons.
(4) As described in response to QON No. 10 from the 2018 19 Annual and Financial Reports process, the ACT Health Directorate aims for Quarterly Performance Reports (QPR) to be published 70 80 calendar days following the end of each quarter. It is therefore not accurate to state that the Quarter 2 QPR was due at the beginning of March 2020.
As per my response to a question taken on notice on 7 May 2020, dated 21 May, my office received the draft QPR on 31 March. This is approximately two weeks after the report was due. Release was subsequently delayed because I sought additional information and analysis.
It is important to note in regard to these timeframes that the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on 30 January 2020. The first COVID-19 case confirmed in Australia was 25 January. While the COVID-19 pandemic was declared a public health emergency in the ACT in mid-March, key health services personnel and ACTHD staff were being re-prioritised to manage the ACT response to the COVID-19 pandemic well before this declaration.
(5) The Quarter 1 2019-20 QPR was published on 18 December 2019. This is within the 70 to 80 calendar day timeframe described in response to QON No. 10 from the 2018 19 Annual and Financial Reports process. Please refer to this response for the background to this timeframe.
(6) (a) N/A – see response to question 5 above.
(b) See response to question 4 above.
(7) (a) N/A – see response to question 5 above.
(b) During March 2020, I was conscious that the nation and ACT were facing a global pandemic of a kind not experienced in any of our lifetimes. While I and my office continued to monitor business as usual activity, including the production of the QPR, my view was, and remains, that effectively responding to the COVID-19 public health emergency was the highest priority.
(8) (a) Please refer to response to QON 3064, dated 6 July 2020. In addition to the information provided in that response, senior staff in Digital Solutions Division were engaged during the relevant period in finalising the tender process for the new Digital Health Record.
As anticipated in the response to QON 3064, the report was received in my office on 10 July. An error in data presentation was identified and an updated report was received in my office on 16 July and released on 17 July.
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