Improving health systems
Strengthening the systems that support better care
Efficient, coordinated health systems make delivering high-quality care for better health outcomes possible.
When systems work well together, healthcare providers can focus on person-centred care. This means:
- health data and grounded evidence guides shared health systems planning across state and federal governments
- health workforces are supported to make quality improvements to their practice
- national tools developed with community help guide the commissioning of equitable health programs and service models
When these pieces work together, people get safe, coordinated care tailored to their individual needs.
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What we've achieved
Walking our talk: Leading through organisational excellence
This year, we continued strengthening our internal systems to design and fund effective primary healthcare programs that respond to local needs.
This looked like:
- continuing to meet the international standard for quality management systems (ISO9001 accreditation) for effective organisational governance
- achieving the international standards set for information security management (ISO27001) to maintain the integrity, confidentiality and availability of our data
- progressing the actions outlined in our second ‘Stretch’ Reconciliation Action Plan
- furthering our inclusive workplace practices under the Rainbow Tick framework as a Rainbow Tick-accredited organisation
- establishing our Health Access and Equity Framework and working group to coordinate the actions and efforts across our organisation towards tackling systemic inequalities and inequity
- engaging our Clinical and Community Council members in planning, designing, and evaluating health priorities and programs for our region.
We also strengthened our cross-sector partnerships, leading systems-change approaches to tackling gaps in equitable care. For example:
- We convened 5 Post-Corrections Roundtable meetings, engaging people with lived experience and approximately 30 organisations across health, corrections, and community services sectors, to find solutions that address the gaps in care that exist for many people upon exiting the justice system.
- We co-hosted 3 Disability Health Forums with our hospital health system partner, Metro South Health, to understand issues that impact the health, wellbeing, and healthcare access of people with disability, and strengthen connections between people with disability, health professionals and disability community leaders.
Joint Regional Needs Assessment: Evidence driving coordinated action for efficient health services planning
Together with Metro South Health, we completed the most comprehensive joint health needs analysis in the history of our shared region. Key health data was gathered and shared between our local primary and tertiary health systems, as well as from national population data sets, to gain a full picture around the social determinants of health.
Working together:
- We engaged more than 120 stakeholders: 32 consumers, 45 community service representatives, 24 clinicians and 20 executives from both organisations.
- The assessment drew on comprehensive data analysis of nearly 1,000 community survey responses and 30 focus groups with people from priority populations.
- From 97 identified needs, we shortlisted 24 for detailed prioritisation, identifying 12 high-priority and 12 medium-priority needs for focused action over 3 years.
These shared data and insights support:
- a coordinated planning approach to ensure new services address identified gaps rather than duplicate existing initiatives
- evidence-based planning to direct resources to areas of greatest need
- improved patient information sharing between GPs and hospitals, especially when communicating about complex patients’ needs
- improvements to local referral pathways between GP care and hospital and specialist services for care continuity.
Our joint plan for improving mental health and wellbeing across our region
Together: Shaping Regional Wellbeing 2025–2030 is our plan to enhance mental health, suicide prevention, and alcohol and other drug services in our region.
Developed by Brisbane South PHN and Metro South Health, the plan is designed to:
- help people in our community get the right support and services
- give the community a say in how services are delivered
- build a stronger, more connected healthcare system that focuses on people and their needs.
We spoke with more than 300 people in our region, including people with lived and living experience, carers and service providers, to help ensure the plan best reflected the communities it is designed to serve.
See our Brisbane South Joint Regional Mental Health, Suicide Prevention, Alcohol and Other Drug Plan 2025–2030 to learn more.
Cyclone Alfred: Supporting health coordination during natural disaster
When ex-tropical Cyclone Alfred impacted Southeast Queensland in early March 2025, primary care services faced urgent operational challenges such as power outages, infrastructure damage and flooding. Patients needed support to locate and access healthcare services that remained open during the event.
Rapid primary health system response
We mobilised 33 staff across multiple teams to maintain communication with primary care services. Across several days, staff made more than 490 phone calls to general practices, pharmacies, urgent care clinics, aged care facilities and community health services—checking operational status, sharing time-sensitive information and gathering intelligence to report back to government.
We embedded daily representation in Metro South Health's Emergency Operations Centre and attended Local Disaster Management Group meetings. This meant local primary care intelligence informed broader emergency coordination, while general practices received timely updates about evolving conditions and available support.
Critical information we shared:
- cold chain breach protocols to protect vaccine integrity during power outages
- clinical guidance through Brisbane South HealthPathways covering wound management and mental health impacts
- real-time National Health Services Directory (NHSD) updates so patients could locate open services on Healthdirect.gov.au.
Practices had the protocols they needed. Patients could locate open services. Aged care facilities received support navigating challenges posed for residents during disasters. This coordinated response prevented gaps in critical health information and care access during and immediately following the impact of ex-Cyclone Alfred.
"The Cyclone Alfred response showed how PHNs can function as valuable local intelligence coordination hubs during disasters and emergencies—keeping primary care connected, informed and operational when communities need it most."
Local aged care staff put residents first during ex-Cyclone Alfred disaster
Residential aged care workers often go above and beyond for the people and families of those who live in aged care homes during hard times, but especially in times of natural disasters and health emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic. Brisbane South PHN spoke with some local aged care staff earlier in the year at a workforce education event on immunisation. Learn what they had to say about the experiences of ex-Cyclone Alfred as they cared for their residents.
Support for primary health care
We delivered
7,397
services
to over
3,100
individual providers
across
330
practices
representing
97.4%
of all general practices in
our region
Supporting primary care workforce education and general practice quality improvement
In total, we delivered 7,397 instances of practice support to 3,100+ individual primary care providers across 330 practices — that’s 97.4% of all general practices in our region.
Quality improvement (QI) coaching tailored to practice priorities
In total, 179 practices accessed our quality improvement (QI) coaching this year. Of 165 projects completed, 164 demonstrated measurable improvement—a 99% success rate that reflects both practice staff commitment to quality improvements and the effective coaching support provided by Brisbane South PHN.
QI projects were self-selected by general practices and included work done on increasing rates of patient immunisations, assessment and screening for cancers and cardiovascular disease, and improving chronic diseases management. This year, GP involvement in practice quality improvement projects doubled, from 83 to 161 GPs participating along with other practice staff to improve patient outcomes.
General practice QI coaching outcomes were positive:
- 95% extremely satisfied with support
- 96% reported improved knowledge and skills
- 78% indicated likelihood of implementing sustained changes beyond the coaching period.
A focus on improving First Nations health: Morningside Family Medical’s QI project success
General practice QI support focuses on health outcomes, not just process measures. While documenting immunisation and screening rates matters for reporting, practices told us they wanted help documenting improvements to patient healthcare experiences and outcomes. One practice, Morningside Family Medical, exemplified this shift in thinking through their First Nations health QI project.
“We ask ourselves, are we providing good patient care? Are we a space where patients feel safe? We want the health journey to be a shared experience where a patient has all the information they need to improve and optimise their health outcomes.”
Learn how Brisbane South PHN is improving access to healthcare.
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