Published in CROAKEY 12 November 2012: Melissa Sweet editor

The National Primary Health Care Conference has just wrapped up in Adelaide, and you can get an idea of some of the wide-ranging discussions from the #nphcc Twitter stream.(refer NACCHOAustralia TWITTER)

One of the obvious implications is that we must hope Medicare Locals are skilled in the art and science of setting and implementing priorities, given the smorgasbord of expectations upon them.

Engaging with the Aboriginal community controlled health sector should be a priority, suggests NACCHO’s senior policy officer on health reform, James Lamerton.

In the article below, he has some practical suggestions for how Medicare Locals can go about this.

Medicare Locals and the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Sector: Where are we? Where are we going?

James Lamerton writes:

At the National Primary Health Care Conference in Adelaide last week the daunting terrain that Medicare Locals are expected to navigate was on display.

Medicare Local CEOs and directors must be tearing their hair or turning to drink after hearing, on the first day, from the Department of Health and Ageing’s David Butt and, on the final day, from the Coalition’s Andrew Southcott; both confirmed that the ML ground will be not only rugged but continually shifting.

One thing, however, does offer the Medicare Locals some degree of certainty and considerable promise; the ongoing presence, in the primary health care environment, of the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service (ACCHS) sector that has been providing comprehensive primary health care, based on the social determinants of health thinking, for forty years.

Though Aboriginal health was not a theme at the conference, those representatives of the sector present made it clear that partnerships between Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service and Medicare Locals are not only possible but highly desirable.

From population health planning, through treatment of chronic conditions to primary mental health care initiatives like the Access to Allied Psychological Services and Partners in Recovery programs, the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service sector will be an essential, effective and enduring partner for Medicare Locals.

Examples of high functioning partnerships between Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services and Medicare Locals abound.

From the Pilbara to the NT; from Brisbane to NSW’s northern rivers and Sydney’s western suburbs, these two crucial players in the primary health care environment have carved out partnerships that are not only rolling out Aboriginal health programs and initiatives together but are also building respect and trust between and within communities.

Meanwhile, many Medicare Local CEOs at the conference, whose organisations do not have formal partnerships with the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service within their footprint, showed that they were open to partnering but may need support and guidance.

Tips for engagement

So is there a sure-fire, foolproof recipe that Medicare Local CEOs and their teams can follow that will lead to a successful partnership?

The short answer is no – or, at least, not that I know of – but following are some basic tips that should help.

Research the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service in your area and get your head around its operating environment – in other words, show an interest.

Have a look at the constitution, find out who the board members are and where they come from. What programs/projects does the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service run, and what is it really good at? What are its pressure points? Maybe in those pressure points there’s a potential partnering opportunity.

Ensure that your local Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service is a member of your Medicare Local. Why not even look at Aboriginality and experience in the community controlled sector as essential skills for at least one of your directors?

Meet. Get a knock down to the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service CEO this week and follow it up, as soon as possible, with a Chair & CEO to Chair & CEO meeting.

Is it possible for the two boards to come together? Not only can this be an excellent trust-building opportunity but it’ll also allow your board members to hear the voice of the Aboriginal community directly (NB be prepared to hear some confronting messages).

Don’t rush it. If you’re building a new relationship or repairing an old one, it’ll most likely take time.

To you and your team, it might seem that things move at a glacial pace within your local Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service, but this is usually because it is using its community feedback loops to see what people think.

It might be frustrating but this is where the strength of the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service lies; see what you can learn from it and extrapolate to your relationships with your traditional and emerging constituencies. (NB: These feedback loops will invariably appear idiosyncratic and puzzlingly opaque: stay cool, they’ve been in place and working pretty well for 60,000 years).

Remember Grandma’s advice: you were born with two ears and one mouth – there’s a reason for that. Active and appreciative listening to a problem will often produce the seeds of a solution. In the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service environment, silence not only implies consent but also shows respect.

Start with something small and achievable. We’re not going to close the gap in one fell swoop; agree a project that you can work on together (truly ‘work on together’), even if there are some residual trust issues, and see it through to its conclusion – come hell or high water.

Jointly evaluate it, pick the eyes out of it and carry the characteristics of the relationship into something new. Initial success may prove to be sub-optimal but cast your mind back to when you were learning to swim. That’s right, you started out simply trying not to drown and eventually ended up swimming to Rottnest Island.

Meet 2. Arrange informal but regular meetings between your clinicians and those of the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service. It’s amazing what can be shared and learned by both groups in an environment of enquiry.

Own what’s yours but respect what isn’t. Enough said.

The mixed Medicare Local messages coming from Government and Opposition are certainly testing the patience and resolve of the Medicare Local movement; it’s hard to plan when the map is redrawn regularly.

However, the opening whistle’s blown and it’s game-on.

This reform agenda presents us with a potentially epoch-altering opportunity to make serious inroads into comprehensive primary health care and public health thinking based on a ‘rights’ ethos.

To the politicians, the future of Medicare Locals may appear uncertain but the only infallible way for us to predict the future is for us to create it.

More reading: Mark Metherell’s report for Croakey from day one of the conference on the need to shift the funding imbalance between hospitals and primary health care.