Western Australia’s State-wide pathology service, PathWest Laboratory Medicine WA, will become a separate health service provider under changes announced today.
PathWest will be established as a Chief Executive Governed Health Service Provider, meaning it will be a Statutory Authority in its own right, have clear roles and responsibilities, and be subject to the robust governance, performance and accountability framework within the Health Services Act 2016.
PathWest currently reports to the North Metropolitan Health Service Board. The governance changes will:
- Create direct accountability and responsibility for PathWest;
- Allow PathWest to be more innovative and responsive to the needs of its clients;
- Ensure PathWest focus on all aspects of their clinical and financial performance; and
- Provide the WA health system, the public and key stakeholders with a greater level of transparency and assurance regarding quality and integrity of PathWest services.
Planning for new governance arrangements is underway, with an operating model being developed to support its implementation. This will also address relevant findings and recommendations from recent, independent reviews of PathWest.
The transition of PathWest to an independent health service provider will be delivered within the existing budget settings of the WA health system and will not affect industrial coverage of PathWest employees.