Through the North Coast PHN program, we are a commissioner of local services. This is a new way of all of us working together to design services that best meet our community’s needs.
We have well-established and effective clinical and community councils across the region which guide our actions to improve the quality of health care.
Our commissioning work begins by gaining an understanding of the health care needs of the North Coast. This needs assessment involves our community, clinicians and service providers and is available for all to use.
We use this information to work with health professionals and community members to find gaps and facilitate local solutions that reflect our priority areas.
In this regard, we have created a commissioning framework informed by recent literature and experience. There are three interrelated phases in the commissioning framework:
- strategic planning and design
- procurement of services, and
- monitoring and evaluation.
Commissioning Cycle
We have developed three manuals to guide the processes associated with each of the commissioning phases. This ensures a transparent, consistent, and systematic approach is taken to our work.
The Planning and Design Manual outlines the first stage of our commissioning framework.
Following on from the health needs assessment, this manual outlines the steps required to better understand the health or service issue that is driving poor health outcomes or access issues across the region.
Secondly, the manual discusses how a range of stakeholders can be engaged to assist in the design and scope of solutions. This informs the next steps required to procure a solution from a suitable provider(s).
This manual is currently being finalised and will be made available once it is complete.
The purpose of the Procurement Manual is to set out a step-by-step guide for the formal procurement of services and the award of contracts to suitable providers.
The purpose of the Monitoring and Evaluation Manual is to set out a step-by-step guide for the monitoring and management of contracts and the evaluation of program performance to improve health outcomes for North Coast communities.
Having a robust framework for the monitoring and evaluation promotes best practices in care to patients across providers, improve efficiency of services, and to improve the value of care to deliver on the intended outcomes.
