Andrew Southcott (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

One of the most common questions I am asked by school groups is: why did I go into politics? At the time, I was in the early stages of a career in medicine, which I was finding challenging and rewarding. However, when the chance arose to stand for office, I thought it would give me the opportunity to make a contribution to Australia's health system at a larger level and to influence health policy for the better.

At a local level in my electorate, I have had some wins in that area. I consider the work I did in securing the initial $10 million in federal funding for the Flinders Centre for Innovation in Cancer to be one of my proudest local achievements. Currently, I am fighting very hard to keep the state government from shutting down the Daw Park Repatriation General Hospital.

I am also proud of some of the broader health initiatives I was involved in as part of the Howard government, like the significant expansion of Medicare to cover to mental health, dentistry and allied health and chronic disease management. A few years ago, as the coalition spokesperson for primary health care, I was very conscious that while as a nation we have seen great improvements in our health, everyone was grappling with how we could manage chronic disease better at a systems level. For me, that is the great current challenge in health policy, and quality primary health care is key. Since the coalition formed government in 2013, I have been working closely with the health sector and lobbying to see a health reform become a reality. What I am talking about is the idea of embedding an integrated health check into standard GP practice, right across the country.

What does that mean? It is not what many people might consider a 'big' reform. It can be done within existing programs. If it does become policy, I do not expect it to make headlines across the country. But I believe it is something that, if implemented, could have a very large, very real impact on the long-term health of Australians. Put simply, it would be a comprehensive series of tests undertaken as a routine by your GP, that cover indicators and risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, kidney disease and diabetes. Then the risk would be stratified by the GP and managed with the GP. I am sure that most people who hear this would ask, 'Doesn't my GP already do that?' The answer is yes and no. They are already part of the RACGP preventive health guidelines and they are already part of quality practice. But what I am talking about is ensuring that, within the payment made to practices, there are incentives to encourage quality improvement.

Having an integrated check for all cardiovascular disease, kidney disease and diabetes at once, as a normal part of general practice, could be a major, important initiative to move our health system further towards prevention of disease and managing chronic disease better. I would like to pay tribute to the hard work being done on this issue by the National Vascular Disease Prevention Alliance. This alliance consists of the four groups who represent the diseases which, combined, are the biggest killers of Australians: Diabetes Australia, Kidney Health Australia, the Heart Foundation and the Stroke Foundation. The alliance was established in 2000, with the goal of reducing cardiovascular disease. Getting an integrated health check in place is one of the group's core priorities. That fact should illustrate that, while it might sound like a small thing, this reform has the potential to have a huge impact on health outcomes.

There are some positive signs that this issue is getting attention. I have to say that Minister Ley and the Prime Minister's office have been taking the time to listen to the arguments in favour of an integrated health check and have been very helpful in taking steps to further the discussion both within Parliament House and with the Department of Health.

There are three developments which give an opportunity for this idea to go forward. Firstly, the current practice incentive payment review conducted by the Department of Health; secondly, the establishment of the Primary Care Advisory Group, which is led by former AMA head, Dr Steven Hambleton; and, thirdly, an Inquiry into Chronic Disease Prevention and Management in Primary Health Care has begun, through the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Health. The decision to go ahead with this inquiry had bipartisan support and, amongst a range of other issues, I am sure that the topic of integrated health checks will be raised.

Beyond this one issue, however, I would encourage any organisation with an interest in chronic disease to make a submission to the inquiry before the deadline for submissions, Friday, 31 July 2015. For me, championing an initiative like integrated health checks represents one of the main reasons that I went into politics, and it is one of the things that I am fighting very hard to achieve in this term of government.