HCEC Clinical Council Update

The HCEC Clin­i­cal Coun­cil was estab­lished in late 2024 as the peak clin­i­cal body respon­si­ble for pro­vid­ing inde­pen­dent, impar­tial advice and advo­ca­cy on statewide health sys­tem issues in South Aus­tralia. Com­pris­ing clin­i­cal lead­ers, con­sumer rep­re­sen­ta­tives, and senior admin­is­tra­tors, it sup­ports clin­i­cal improve­ment and inno­va­tion to enhance the qual­i­ty, equi­ty, effi­cien­cy, afford­abil­i­ty, and sus­tain­abil­i­ty of patient care.

Report­ing to the Health Chief Exec­u­tives’ Coun­cil (HCEC), the Clin­i­cal Coun­cil reviews the sys­tem-wide impacts of pro­posed changes, facil­i­tates col­lab­o­ra­tion on com­plex issues, shares best prac­tice, and pro­motes a cul­ture of excel­lence. It also pro­vides forums for broad­er clin­i­cal engage­ment and input into strate­gic deci­sions shap­ing the deliv­ery and future of healthcare.

Its remit includes hold­ing 2 – 3 forums a year to pro­vide oppor­tu­ni­ties for col­lab­o­ra­tion on com­plex sys­tem-wide issues. To date, two forums have been con­duct­ed since the HCEC Clin­i­cal Coun­cil was formed. 

Reg­istries in the 21^st Century

Held in Novem­ber 2024, the first forum con­sid­ered the cur­rent and future role of health reg­istries. A work­shop with key stake­hold­ers iden­ti­fied sig­nif­i­cant oppor­tu­ni­ties to improve care through bet­ter data-informed deci­sions, recog­nis­ing that health reg­istries have an impor­tant role in dri­ving clin­i­cal improve­ment and patient outcomes. 

The next step iden­ti­fied at the forum was for the devel­op­ment of a roadmap to achieve the ide­al state for reg­istries in SA Health, con­tain­ing the fol­low­ing key elements:

1. Establishment/​clarification of gov­er­nance struc­tures and respon­si­bil­i­ties for the devel­op­ment, vis­i­bil­i­ty, par­tic­i­pa­tion, and use of health reg­istries in SA Health.
2. Devel­op­ment of a SA Health pol­i­cy frame­work to guide health reg­istry gov­er­nance, util­i­sa­tion, and integration.
3. Resourc­ing and invest­ment to sup­port reg­istry infra­struc­ture, work­force, and strate­gic align­ment need­ed to achieve the ide­al state for health reg­istries in SA Health.

This work will involve many areas of SA Health and the broad­er health sys­tem and is cur­rent­ly being led by the CEIH and the Safe­ty & Qual­i­ty Unit in the Depart­ment for Health and Wellbeing.

Work­force Sus­tain­abil­i­ty – The Role of the Clin­i­cal Leader

Held in May 2025, the sec­ond forum con­sid­ered work­force sus­tain­abil­i­ty. Its aim was to iden­ti­fy oppor­tu­ni­ties to bet­ter empow­er and enable clin­i­cal lead­ers to sup­port the work­force sus­tain­abil­i­ty agenda. 

Stake­hold­ers iden­ti­fied the role that clin­i­cal lead­ers play in dif­fer­ent aspects of work­force sustainability: 

1. Work­force Resources — Clin­i­cal lead­ers pro­vide crit­i­cal insight in ser­vice plan­ning, demand-respon­sive func­tion­al infra­struc­ture, and ensure tech­nol­o­gy is evi­dence-based and rel­e­vant to prac­tice. By lead­ing data-dri­ven eval­u­a­tion, pro­mot­ing inclu­sive co-design, and cham­pi­oning trans­par­ent sys­tems, clin­i­cal lead­ers help align tech­nol­o­gy with both front­line and sys­tem needs, dri­ving improved care qual­i­ty, staff well­be­ing, and future work­force resilience.
2. Work­spaces — Clin­i­cal lead­ers play a piv­otal role in bridg­ing the gap between strate­gic vision and clin­i­cal real­i­ty. They advo­cate for sus­tain­able invest­ment, co-design tech­nol­o­gy with front­line staff, and embed evi­dence-based plan­ning and eval­u­a­tion into dai­ly prac­tice. By fos­ter­ing a cul­ture of inno­va­tion, ensur­ing sys­tems are user-cen­tric, and lead­ing data-dri­ven improve­ment, clin­i­cal lead­ers can trans­form work­places into envi­ron­ments that sup­port high-qual­i­ty care and staff well­be­ing, and pro­mote long-term sys­tem resilience.
3. Pro­fes­sion­al Ful­fil­ment — Clin­i­cal lead­ers play a key role in advo­cat­ing for reduced admin­is­tra­tive load, role design, enabling flex­i­ble and sup­port­ed career path­ways, fos­ter­ing inter­pro­fes­sion­al col­lab­o­ra­tion, and cul­ti­vat­ing a cul­ture of recog­ni­tion, safe­ty, and con­tin­u­ous growth. Effec­tive clin­i­cal lead­er­ship helps build a resilient, moti­vat­ed, engaged and empow­ered work­force, capa­ble of sus­tain­ing high-qual­i­ty care delivery.
4. Care Deliv­ery — Clin­i­cal lead­ers play a crit­i­cal role in shap­ing inclu­sive, data-dri­ven (evi­dence –based) mod­els of care, embed­ding equi­ty and qual­i­ty into every­day prac­tice, and men­tor­ing teams in con­tin­u­ous learn­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties. They help bridge gaps between pol­i­cy and prac­tice, advo­cate for sys­temic reform, and lead the co-design of care mod­els that reflect clin­i­cal needs, ulti­mate­ly ensur­ing safe, sus­tain­able and high-per­form­ing health systems.

The HCEC Clin­i­cal Coun­cil is cur­rent­ly review­ing these roles and oth­er insights from the forum to devel­op next steps and a pro­gram of work in this area.