Investing in community health infrastructure will help ease the burden on Victoria's emergency departments

Infrastructure Victoria’s latest report Investing in community health infrastructure finds that with the right planning and a small increase in infrastructure funding, community health organisations can help keep the most vulnerable Victorians healthy and ease demand on our hospitals and emergency departments.

Victorians who are experiencing disadvantage are more likely to have multiple complex health needs. They can also have trouble accessing everyday healthcare services like GPs or dentists, so their health problems worsen until they must go to a hospital or emergency department.

Infrastructure Victoria chief executive Dr Jonathan Spear said, “For people who cannot otherwise access affordable healthcare, community health organisations provide a single entry-point into the broader healthcare and social support system. They’re there for vulnerable Victorians, keeping them well and out of hospital for longer.”

In 2023–24 around 546,000 people in Victoria could have avoided visiting a hospital emergency department if their health was managed by primary care or the community health sector. This could have saved Victoria’s public hospitals around $554 million in expenditure in emergency departments.

“Community health organisations can reduce demand on public hospitals by treating people early and managing chronic conditions before they get worse. They could help more people, but most operate out of buildings that are old or not fit for purpose, with leaking roofs, structural issues and spaces that don’t meet their clients’ needs.

“Continued under-investment in community health infrastructure leads to higher costs for governments, and poorer community outcomes,” said Dr Spear.

A survey of 4,000 Victorians found that the biggest barrier for people trying to access community health is long wait times to get an appointment. Victorians who rely on community health services to keep them healthy often must travel further or wait longer between appointments.

“By 2036, organisations in growth areas will have to cater for more than double the number of people living there now. Wait times are likely to increase even further without investment in the infrastructure needed to support additional community health services. But if people cannot access these services, they will end up going to hospital more often than they need to,” Dr Spear said.

The research from Infrastructure Victoria focused on registered community health organisations, which are independently managed non-profit organisations. It found that low quality and deteriorating infrastructure is restricting the range of services that they can offer, and the number of people they can serve.

The survey of registered community health organisations’ infrastructure found that of all the Victorian Government owned buildings, half are in poor condition or are approaching their end of life.

In 2023–2024, registered community health organisations received around 0.3% ($5.2 million) of the Victorian Government’s funding for health infrastructure each year.

“We recommend the Victorian Government increase annual funding from $5.2 million to between $30 million and $60 million – just 1.5% to 3% of the $2 billion the government spends on average each year on health infrastructure,” Dr Spear said.

“The Victorian Government can also seek co-funding for community health infrastructure from the Australian Government.

“This fractional increase in funding would support vulnerable Victorians to manage complex health needs and ease the load of some of the 500,000 emergency hospital visits that could be managed in the community instead,” Dr Spear said.

Investing in community health infrastructure makes 3 recommendations to the Victorian Government:

• Conduct an asset assessment of all community health facilities in Victoria, including integrated and registered community health services.
• Undertake long-term infrastructure planning in consultation with community health services and use this to develop community health services infrastructure investment priorities.
• Invest in community health facilities to support the delivery of local, high-quality community health services over the next 5 years.

Media enquiries

Melinda Crimp 0422 529 536 melinda.crimp@infrastructurevictoria.com.au

Lydia Hanna 0416 204 446 lydia.hanna@infrastructurevictoria.com.au