2003/04 – 2005/06 SERVICE PLAN Ministry of Health Services

Highlights and Changes from
Previous Plan

The 2003/04 to 2005/06 service plans clarify the ministries' and their system partners' respective roles and responsibilities in creating a responsive and well-managed patient-centred health system. Specifically, the plan distinguishes between the role of our service partners — health authorities, doctors and others — who deliver the majority of health services to the public, and the role of the ministries, which mainly provide stewardship and corporate management in support of these health services.

This distinction is reflected in the organization of this year's service plans around three refined core businesses: Services Delivered by Partners, Services Delivered by Ministry, and Stewardship and Corporate Management. "Services Delivered by Partners" is included as a ministry core business because the ministry retains ultimate responsibility for the health care system.

Core Businesses for the Ministries of Health

The ministries' primary function is stewardship over the health care system. We provide direction and support to our partners, and monitor and evaluate the impact of services delivered to the public. To be good stewards, we must also provide good corporate management to ensure that our own administration is run as efficiently and effectively as possible. The two ministries also have a role in providing services directly to the public, such as the BC Ambulance Service, BC Vital Statistics, and Medical Services Plan registration.

Combined, the two health ministry service plans outline 46 strategies for the next three years. The ministries have identified 15 of these strategies as priorities, calling them 'Priority Strategies', to signal their importance in guiding services delivered directly to the public. Thirteen of these relate to services delivered by partners and two to services delivered by the Ministry of Health Services. These are detailed in the Ministry of Health Services service plan but are also referenced in the introduction section of the Ministry of Health Planning service plan.

The 15 priority strategies are:

1. Prevent hospital admissions through primary care and community options
2. Provide post-acute (hospital) alternatives
3. Manage acute care needs in hospital
4. Provide alternatives to institutional care
5. Build integrated care networks
6. Improve care for people with extensive care needs
7. Improve care for people with chronic conditions
8. Improve care for the dying
9. Improve the health status of Aboriginal peoples
10. Enhance self-care and self-management
11. Prevent disease and injury
12. Enhance service quality for rural and smaller communities
13. Manage within budget allocation
14. Improve integration of the provincial ambulance service within the overall health system
15. Improve registration services to the public.

These 15 priority strategies support five key objectives for the health care system over the next three years.

• Provide care at the appropriate level in the appropriate setting by shifting the mix of acute/institutional care in favor of more home/community care.
• Provide tailored care for key segments of the population to better address their specific health care needs and improve their quality of life.
• Keep people as healthy as possible by preventing disease, illness and disability and slowing the progression of chronic illness to minimize suffering and reduce care costs in the future.
• Manage within the available budget while meeting the priority needs of the population.
• Provide clients with equitable and timely access to services directly delivered by the ministry.

These key objectives and priority strategies for the health system have been closely aligned with budget spending priorities for the next three years and are reflected in the performance agreements between the ministry and the health authorities.

The health ministries service plans also identify 28 strategies specific to the ministries' respective stewardship and corporate management roles. These are designed to support health partners in achieving the 15 priority strategies. Finally, there are an additional 3 strategies, specific to the Vital Statistics Agency, listed under services delivered by the Ministry of Health Planning.

To ensure results are monitored and evaluated, the plan also outlines a series of key performance measures that are tied to the strategies. Some have been carried forward from last year. Others were revised to eliminate duplication with measures reported more appropriately under other health annual reports such as those for the Provincial Health Officer and Vital Statistics Agency.

As a result of these significant changes, this service plan now better reflects key health system priorities for 2003/04 to 2005/06, which are underlined in ministry budgets and health authority performance agreements.