health

In the past year we’ve published over 400 stories on life in the public sector, so to celebrate we’re looking back over a selection of our most-read articles and favourite quotes.

Psychology helps us understand why some people resist COVID-19 public health efforts, but it also explains why many people are distracted at work and how we adopt new health-preserving habits.

Mild mitigation measures will not be enough to stop a spike in coronavirus cases overwhelming the health system, argues a paper released by researchers at Imperial College London.

When diseases like the recent coronavirus emerge, public administration can make the difference between containment and major outbreak. The divergent experiences of two Canadian provinces during SARS prove just how important different approaches to planning, resourcing and workers’ rights can be.

In South Australia, the Labor opposition is keeping the pressure on SA Health chief executive Dr Chris McGowan about his involvement in deals with his former employer, allegedly misleading statements to parliament, how he was appointed, and his attendance at Liberal Party fundraisers. At the very least, the controversy is a case study in how not to hire a public service executive from the private sector — especially when you are poaching the CEO of a major supplier of services to the department.

Terry Moran AC, chair of the Centre for Policy Development and former secretary of the PM&C presents a review of how Commonwealth, state and local governments could work together more effectively, at the 2019 John Cain Lecture.

A few years ago Western Australia overhauled its health system with the aim of improving patient outcomes and saving the state money. One of the leaders of the reform program, former health deputy secretary Rebecca Brown, discusses how they did it and what she learned.

Each year, more Victorians die from prescription medications than road accidents or illicit drugs. And yet until recently, there was no reliable way for doctors and pharmacists to know whether their patient was already seeing other practitioners to bump up their dosage. It’s been described as a game of Russian roulette for doctors — they don’t know where the potential bullets are for any particular patient. But that’s changing.