EXPANSION OF TELEHEALTH SERVICES
The Alliance is pleased to be able to contribute to the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO)’s audit to assess whether the Department of Health has effectively managed the expansion of telehealth services during and post the COVID-19 pandemic. The Alliance notes that the ANAO proposes to examine:
Was the expansion informed by robust planning and policy advice?
Was the expansion supported by sound implementation arrangements?
Has monitoring and evaluation of the expansion led to improvements?
The Alliance will endeavour to direct comments to the scope of the audit as outlined by the ANAO, noting however, that the Alliance’s comments cannot be framed in the context of “post the COVID-19 pandemic” as COVID-19 case load data would suggest that Australia is not currently in a post pandemic environment. There are currently more than 3,000 people in hospital with COVID. In total in Australia, we have had 8 million cases of COVID-19 and in excess of 10,000 deaths.
