Australia’s population is ageing and this will accelerate as the baby boomers move into older age. In 2011 there were 3 million people over the age of 65, making up around 14 per cent of the population and this figure will rise to over 8 million in 2050 or 25 per cent of the population. This has important implications for health service design and practice and the needs of older people must be explicitly included in any health system redesign.
Older people are more likely to have complex needs, co-morbidities and chronic conditions that need attention. To manage these conditions people need access to good quality primary health care. In the past Australia’s primary health care was fragmented, uncoordinated and there were obvious gaps in services. In our recent Election Panel survey of 900 members health care came up as the number one concern for the survey participants and many identified access to good quality primary health as the key to good health.
This submission concentrates on the roles they either do or could play and how to ensure their functions continue. We also believe that more could be done to promote good practice across the network so what is working well can be shared and inform innovation and improvements across primary health care.
