Reforming Primary Care in Victoria: Will Primary Care Partnerships Do the Job?

Spiralling medical costs and escalating demand for health services are putting primary care reform firmly on the agenda for governments around the world. A more coordinated and prevention-oriented approach must be adopted now to avoid a looming crisis in health care. In Victoria, the Primary Care Partnership (PCP) Strategy aims to improve health outcomes and better manage the demand for services by functionally integrating health and community support services. This paper provides an overview of the key factors that have shaped primary care reform in the State of Victoria; the logic of the PCP Strategy; a summary of the results of the strategy after 18 months; and a critical assessment of the key challenges for the strategy in the future. The paper concludes that the strategy has already led to much stronger collaboration between agencies, more integrated service planning and emerging models for service coordination. For these achievements to translate to improved health outcomes, the systems changes being initiated by PCPs need to be translated into the way services are provided in the community. This cannot be achieved by collaboration between service providers alone. It is now time for all relevant parts of government to support PCP objectives and initiatives in the way they plan and fund services.