Healthcare commissioning is the process undertaken to decide what publicly-funded health services to make available to a given population of people.
This process includes system design and place-based planning, where community needs and solutions are identified. During this phase, the ability of health service providers to fulfill those needs is also considered and incorporated into planning.
Once the plan is agreed, the commissioning entity purchases the required services from health service providers and, if required, undertakes actions aimed at increasing or redistributing services according to local need.
Importantly, commissioning also includes the careful review of service effectiveness to ensure the services are meeting local needs and priorities. The results of this service monitoring are then fed back into further planning stages.
What is community-controlled commissioning?
“Community-controlled commissioning means that instead of governments deciding on the purchasing of services, the community decides!”
CaTHC has been established with support from the Queensland and Commonwealth governments in a ground-breaking partnership that is a first-of-its-kind in Australia.
Over time, CaTHC intends to build capacity within the 33 communities of the Cape, NPA and Torres to equip those communities to play a meaningful leadership role in planning local health services.
In addition, CaTHC as an entity is community-controlled, which means that its governing body is made up of recognised leaders who are drawn from the Cape, NPA and Torres regions.
