Review of Capital Health Network’s COVID-19 Response
Status: July 2022 — Dec 2022
Client: Capital Health Network / (Australian Capital Territory PHN)
Background
The purpose of the project was to undertake a review of Capital Health Network’s COVID-19 response activities and provide a set of recommendations to inform Capital Health Network’s future public emergency planning and response.
Since the emergence of COVID-19 in March 2020, Capital Health Network (CHN) had been delivering a range of activities focusing on COVID-19 planning and response, such as coordination and communication, PPE distribution, information and education and primary care vaccine programs.
Capital Health Network engaged Beacon Strategies to undertake an independent review of their organisational response to COVID-19 including engagement with key stakeholders to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT).
Beacon Strategies will use the outcome of the review to develop a set of actionable recommendations that will lead to the development of a PHN-led Emergency Response Framework, enabling a best-practice response to future public health emergencies.
Approach
Beacon Strategies delivered the project through a structured and logical delivery approach consisting of the phases outlined below:
Phase 1: Project establishment — defined project context and developed key project management documentation enabling visibility of project deliverables, timelines and accountabilities.
Phase 2: Stakeholder engagement — planned and undertook stakeholder engagement with key stakeholders to understand strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
Phase 3: Situational analysis — undertook targeted desktop research to position findings within the strategic and operating environment.
Phase 4: Reporting and recommendations — analysed project findings and developed a review report and recommendations.
Phase 5: Change management support — supported CHN to outline proposed activities in response to the findings and recommendations of the review.
Outcome
The Final Report on the Review of Capital Health Network's COVID-19 Response was a comprehensive analysis of CHN's response to the pandemic. It identified the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of CHN's COVID-19 response activities and provide actionable recommendations to inform a CHN-specific Emergency Response Framework.
The report was structured with main sections based around the three research questions, with a summary of key takeaways supported by desktop research findings. Findings were used to consider the outputs of the stakeholder engagement phase within the broader strategic environment and evidence base. Desktop research was conducted and involved collecting information and insights through a review of supplied documentation and interviews with key internal and external stakeholders.
The report contained a set of actionable recommendations that could be used to inform CHN's Emergency Response Framework to enable a best-practice response to future public health emergencies. The recommendations were based on an analysis of findings using a SWOT framework to identify key themes and implications.
The report provided valuable insights into CHN's COVID-19 response activities and offered practical recommendations for improving their emergency response framework in the future. It will be an essential resource for the organisation to understand how they can respond effectively to public health emergencies.
Our team understands the important role that PHNs play at a regional level to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of health services for patients, particularly those at risk of poor health outcomes, and improve coordination of care to ensure patients receive the right care in the right place at the right time. Check out more of our work with PHNs here: https://beaconstrategies.net/primary-health-networks
