Population Health and Strategic Direction
SWAHS is a large and complex organisation. There are competing demands for allocation of funds within the Area Health Service between services, for staffing and technology; as well as by external stakeholders. There are also increasing expectations of accountability and community concerns for the quality, efficiency, appropriate distribution, and effectiveness of clinical services and public health programs.
The essential theme underpinning the Directorate of Population Health and Strategic Direction is information, its use, production from existing data sources, distribution and review. It is the key tool for service development and corporate planning, performance monitoring, information management strategies and the population health functions encompassing health protection, health improvement, epidemiology and Aboriginal Health.
The Division is a champion and driver of a knowledge-based approach to service development. The new organisational structure is built on managers having direct accountability and authority for particular areas of work but there is significant cross-Unit planning and collaboration.
Specific challenges include:
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issues of inequality in health status and outcome across the Area;
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shifting patterns of illness and disability;
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emerging and expensive clinical technologies;
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episodic payment systems;
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accountability for improvements in clinical and public health practice;
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aging population;
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increased demand for, and expectations of services;
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opportunities for inter-agency cooperation.
The Directorate includes a number of specific units:
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Strategy and Planning. This incorporates responsibility for service development, strategic and corporate Planning, continuing and complex care strategies and the Epidemiology team
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The Centre for Population Health, incorporating health promotion, environmental and urban health and communicable disease surveillance and control
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The Aboriginal Health Unit
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The Performance Monitoring and Reporting Unit, and
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The Information Management Unit
