Pictured L-R: Cibin Ilyas (Healthy North Coast), Dr Adrian Gilliland (Board Chair, Healthy North Coast), Luke Elias (Director, Healthy North Coast), Gayle Dougherty (Practice Nurse, Seascape Medical Centre), Wafaa Malak (Practice Manager, Seascape Medical Centre), Dr Akram Malak (Owner and GP, Seascape Medical Centre), Monika Wheeler (CEO, Healthy North Coast)
A recent report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) shows that general practices across the North Coast have exceeded national averages in nine out of ten Quality Improvement Measures.
The Practice Incentives Program Quality Improvement (PIPQI) is a national program from AIHW to support quality improvement for patients and the delivery of best-practice care. General practices enrolled in the PIPQI program commit to continuous quality improvement activities that support them in managing patients’ health.
There are 145 general practices enrolled in the PIPQI program across the Mid North Coast and Northern NSW.
Monika Wheeler, CEO of Healthy North Coast, was thrilled with the results showing local general practices were delivering quality patient care:
“Our region is facing unique health challenges with higher rates of chronic and complex disease and disability, an ageing population, and higher rates of socio-economic disadvantage. It is so important that we perform strongly when it comes to the quality of health care.
“Congratulations to our general practice teams on these excellent results. The PIPQI program is one of several measures showing the quality of care provided by our doctors, nurses, allied health workers, administration and clinical support staff in a general practice team.
“It is encouraging to see these outstanding results as our primary health care system undergoes significant reform. With the support of more team-based care and planned reform of chronic disease management, high standards of quality in general practice will provide a strong foundation for the upcoming MyMedicare reform activities.”
Seascape Medical Centre in South West Rocks who, after opening their doors in 2017, now employ five doctors and also have pathology, physiotherapy, hearing and counselling services on site are strong advocates for quality improvement in general practice and enthusiastically welcomed the region’s results.
Wafaa Malak, Practice Manager at Seascape Medical Centre, was quick to attribute their own practice’s strong commitment to quality improvement to the Centre’s hardworking staff:
“Our team of experienced doctors, nurses, receptionist and team leader share the same goal which is to provide the highest standard of medical care to our patients.
“Our brilliant nurse Gayle has contributed to our practice in an exceptional way. She has always demonstrated compassion, care, and dedication in her work. Her commitment to provide high quality services has improved the care of our patients. She is retiring at the end of November and will be greatly missed at Seascape.”
Healthy North Coast offers general practices on the Mid North Coast and Northern NSW a range of supports including HealthPathways, professional development, networking events, clinical societies, training and quality improvement support.
Additional info:
- Regular reports are published by the AIHW to provide nationally consistent, comparable data against specified measures that contribute to the assessment of needs and to the improvement of regional and national health outcomes.
- Healthy North Coast’s Primary Care Impact program supports general practices with quality improvement initiatives and helps to identify areas of focus and importance for primary care providers to improve the quality of health service delivery across our region.
- Table data: based on data submitted for the quarter ending 31 July 2024