Aboriginal Health, Chronic Disease, After Hours and other commissioned services

mental health, suicide prevention and drug & alcohol Commissioned Services

WNSW PHN is not a frontline provider of health care services, instead, we fund health care providers to deliver a range of primary health care services that are appropriate and relevant to the needs of the community.

Distribution of funding is undertaken through a commissioning process. Commissioning is a strategic approach that seeks to ensure services meet the health needs of the population and contribute towards service and system improvement and innovation. WNSW PHN utilises commissioning to assist in meeting our objectives of improved efficiency, effectiveness and coordination in primary health care.

Ultimately, the aim of commissioning is to enable WNSW PHN to allocate available resources in ways that best address the needs of our region, as identified by our needs assessment.

The commissioning process is often described in terms of a cycle: planning, delivering, monitoring and reviewing health services.

WNSW PHN’s approach to commissioning is:

  • identifying and understanding needs;
  • in consultation with providers and the community, determining how best those needs can be met – what activities or outcomes should be sought;
  • assessing how existing providers might be able to meet needs;
  • building capacity among current and potential providers so they can be better able to meet needs;
  • encouraging new services and/or new providers where necessary;
  • negotiating and agreeing on contracts for services with providers;
  • managing contracts;
  • reviewing and evaluating providers’ performance and achievements;
  • incorporating knowledge and experience gained into future commissioning activities; and
  • providing feedback and intelligence to the provider community as a means to build longer-term sustainability.

The WNSW PHN Commissioning Framework has been established to provide guidance on planning and implementing health commissioning responsibilities under the funding agreement with the Commonwealth. WNSW PHN is committed to a transparent and accountable commissioning cycle and will continue to review and grow this process as we evolve. 

To ensure the services commissioned by WNSW PHN are clinically and culturally safe, service providers must comply with the following:

For an overview of the services we fund for Aboriginal Health, Chronic Disease, After Hours and other services, please download the Summary of Commissioned Services.

For an overview of the services we fund for mental health, suicide prevention and drug & alcohol, please download the Summary of Commissioned Services.

For details on WNSW PHN Procurement, visit the Procurement page.