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This strategic plan sets the direction of the WA Country Health Service (WACHS) for the next five years, laying the foundations to achieve a re-imagining of country healthcare over the next 15 years. While our core focus is always improving the quality of care we deliver to country communities in the here and now, we are planning for the future; a future where we unlock the transformative potential of new and emerging technologies.

On this page:

• A lot has changed in the last 15 years...
• … and healthcare is no exception
• WA is a world leader in the use of emergency telehealth technology
• Imagine a future where in five to 15 years…

A lot has changed in the last 15 years…

• Smart devices have fundamentally changed the way we connect, communicate, entertain ourselves, and consume information.
• Online shopping has transformed the retail industry, placing unlimited choice of products and services at our fingertips.
• New business models such as Uber, Airbnb, AirTasker and Netflix have disrupted industries that haven’t changed in decades.
• Internet banking means we no longer have to spend our lunch breaks queuing at a bank counter.
• Social media has reduced the impact of distance, enabling us to connect with colleagues, friends and family around the world.
• Solar power and battery technology is providing remote communities in Africa with electricity for the first time.
• Automated vehicles are rapidly changing our automotive and transportation sectors – trains, planes and automobiles alike.

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… and healthcare is no exception

• Doctors are beginning to unlock the potential of 3D printing to revolutionise bone and joint replacement, organ donation and a range of other treatments.
• The translation of medical research into new treatments and drugs has seen the five year survival rate of all cancers increase from less than half in 1990 to almost 70 per cent in 2014.
• Stem cell research is unlocking new treatments for a range of conditions including heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis and Parkinson’s disease.
• Bionic limbs are enabling amputees to live fuller lives, to run and walk as fast as others.
• Rapid treatment approaches, advances in preventative treatments, clot reducing drugs and micro-surgical procedures have seen an 82 per cent reduction in death rates from cardiovascular disease since 1968.
• Doctor-driven robotic surgery is being used to treat certain conditions, reducing recovery times and increasing precision.
• Medical devices are enabling remote monitoring and management of heart rhythms, diabetic control, foetal signs and personal mobility.

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WA is a world leader in the use of emergency telehealth technology

WACHS’s world-leading emergency telehealth technology enables emergency patients in regional and remote hospitals to receive assessment and treatment from local staff and specialists hundreds of kilometres away.

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Imagine a future where in five to 15 years…

• Every person can access and control their own health information, via their mobile device.
• All country people receive the right vaccinations, live in environments that support good health, and are protected from common and preventable diseases.
• The health and social care system is seamlessly integrated, and consumers can easily access, navigate and make choices about the care that is right for them.
• Medical aid is delivered by drone to residents in the most remote parts of WA; without the need for them to travel.
• Older people or people living with chronic disease can maintain independent lives in their own homes, whether that be in a regional centre or a remote community with less need for intensive carers, and with clinicians monitoring their health and wellbeing in real-time via wearable devices and other real-time monitoring equipment.
• Genomics enables specialist doctors in Perth to predict the potential future health issues of an unborn child in a country community and works with local doctors to deliver precision medicine to minimise those risks before the baby is born.
• Artificial intelligence can be used to help rapidly diagnose a country patient with the most complex or rare condition, that would otherwise take months or years of tests and many visits to hospitals in Perth.
• Remote communities, Aboriginal and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) people have access to a range of healthcare options that meet their cultural needs.
• Country patients have access to virtual healthcare from their home or local general practice, with greater local access to specialised and urgent care and a reduced need to travel.

Digital disruption, and digital opportunities, have arrived in health and are accelerating and we believe regional and remote health services will benefit the most. This strategic plan lays the foundation for these opportunities to become a reality in the next five to 15 years.

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