Primary Health Networks: The $12 billion black hole experiment
An audit report found that health officials had no plans to assess PHN performance for six years.
The Australian National Audit Office report released last month is of considerable length and uses language that could only excite an accountant.
Perhaps its biggest plot twist is reading that $11.6 billion has been spent on Primary Health Networks since their emergence from the rubble Peter Dutton made of Medicare Locals when he became Federal Health minister.
These networks have a few reasons for existence, but they are largely about improving access to health services, particularly for those at high risk of poor health outcomes.
The audit office review is (technically speaking) not so much about PHNs themselves but the Department of Health and Aged Care’s performance management of the PHNs.
