Victorian consultancy firm The Cube Group has been engaged to support the work that Wimmera Health Care Group (WHCG) announced on August 6, regarding discussions with Ballarat Health Services (BHS) to uncover how the two organisations can partner better for their communities.

The WHCG Board of Management has formed the view that delivering safe and effective health services in Horsham and for the broader Wimmera region would be enhanced by an improved partnership with BHS. The Board sees substantial synergies in clinical governance, regulatory compliance, aged care compliance and accreditation, fiscal capability and clinical service delivery.

The services have been working very closely in planning and responding to COVID and this has shown the greater benefits of the health services working more closely together.
WHCG board chair Marie Aitken said after a competitive tendering process, the two health services appointed Cube as the consultancy team to discuss the best options for partnering to improve the quality of services to the Wimmera Mallee region.

“We are now entering stage one of the process of consultancy and that will include discussion around partnering ideas,” Ms Aitken said.

WHCG CEO Catherine Morley said the services were currently refining a draft document received to underline the decision-making principles that both services want to adopt.

“Those principles are also at the draft stage but they include: Better outcomes for the region; Equity of access to local services; Strength and capacity of health services; Opportunities for the workforce; Effective health system for the region; Community trust and support; Complexity of the implementation.”

Ms Morley said Cube Group had worked with other health services in the past and were an easy choice to help us identify and assess partnering options.

“This process for exploring better partnering would include comprehensive consultation with team members from both health services as well as the broader communities,” she said.

“More information will be shared in November once the board has reviewed the first report from Cube.”

The two health services announced a decision to explore better partnering options early last month, including their intentions to appoint a consultancy firm.

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