Swan Hills Division (pre-amalgamation)

The Swan Hills Division is a very diverse and widely distributed population, with the Division encompassing the established suburbs of east metropolitan Perth, the acreage's and small farm holdings of the Bullsbrook/Chittering locality in the north, the burgeoning subdivisions on the new land releases to the north, east and south of Midland, the agricultural communities of the Swan Valley and the Hills communities of the Darling Range.

Recent GP workforce data confirms the anecdotal opinion of local doctors in that the area is under doctored. There are 90 full time equivalent GPs servicing the Region.

MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS

• The establishment of a diversified funding base. Reliance upon the Commonwealth's OBF grant was not appropriate for many reasons. For a "little division with big ideas" to thrive it needs many funding partners, the Division has been successful in achieving this goal over the past year.
• The Division has been successful in lobbying for the capital upgrading of Kalamunda Hospital. There was great concern in the local community that the Kalamunda Hospital would be significantly downgraded with its administrative linkage to the Swan Health Service. After considerable and protracted lobbying these fears have been allayed with the Health Minister's recent announcement of development plans and funding for the hospital.
• The delivery of targeted services to at risk adolescents has reached a new high with the establishment of the Mobile Access Centre (MAC). After four years of toil and effort medical, health and social services are "on the road" to young people, the doorway to improved health outcomes is opening.
• The successful conceptualising and actualising of the "Getting Patients Treated" Program is a major triumph for general practice not only in Perth, Western Australia but also to general practice through out the Nation. The Division has been a central player in this success story from the first conversations with Health Department leaders to the development of current and emerging strategic initiatives.

CHALLENGES FOR THE FUTURE

Into the future the Division will be continuing its current raft of activities with the addition of an Aboriginal Health Program, the specifics of which are currently being developed.

The Division has also submitted an Expression of Interest to develop and run a Care Link centre that would act as an access and referral point for GPs and their patients to the range of support services that exist in the community.