Productivity and effectiveness, not just more resources, are the key levers for improving the Australian public hospital system. The relative performance of private and public hospitals provides further evidence that public hospitals are the major underperforming component of the Australian system.

Pacific Strategy Partners has been involved in the NSW Government review of the current performance of health and medical research, with recommendations for a strategic plan for the next ten years.

The current approach to biospecimen storage in NSW is ad hoc, compared with collaborative approaches in Victoria and WA, but really requires an Australia-wide approach given the greater utility of larger datasets.  

Despite the comprehensive NHHRC review little seems to have changed in the health debate. While its goals were laudable, we seem to be sliding inexorably into a consensus that its all about more money, despite evidence that pumping cash into an unreformed system is doomed to fail.

Reforming health is hard, and will only be delivered by thousands of initiatives to drive performance improvement not big ideas or spin. Done right using management tools common in other sectors, this can deliver improved health outcomes with no increase in delivery costs.

We commend the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission (NHHRC) for producing a comprehensive review of the issues and options facing the Australian health system. While we support the overarching themes of the report, we would like to provide feedback on selected reform directions. 

The Cancer Council SA (TCCSA) had resolved to refocus the organisation around a "research flagship" and required Pacific Strategy Partners to assist in developing a strategy to invest a more significant amount in cancer research.

The Cancer Council South Australia (TCCSA) wanted to develop a strategy for Cancer Prevention and Supportive Care in South Australia.

The Australian Government commissioned a Review to examine the impact of the Wills Review on the Health & Medical Research (HMR) sector in Australia. Eight members of the Pacific Strategy team were key members of an integrated secretariat team that applied the fact based problem solving discipline to the issues confronting the Review.

Pacific Strategy Partners assisted The Cancer Council NSW (TCCN) develop a business case to reduce liver cancer via the pilot B Positive Project and a broader Australian intervention. TCCN is funding a pilot program in South-West Sydney that aims to reverse the exponential rise in liver cancer by targeting the prime driver, the incidence of chronic Hepatitis B infection amount Asian-born Australians.

Each year 40,000 lives are cut short and many others are profoundly disrupted by cancer. One in three Australians is likely to be diagnosed with cancer in his or her lifetime. Our discussion paper, Cancer Prevention in Australia - Strategy for 2020, reveals 45% of this $81 billion cancer burden is preventable by addressing just six factors and a further 4% could be avoided by increased screening for common cancers.