The environment in which Partnership Health Canterbury (PHC) operates will be influenced in the next three years by:

• a focus on Health Targets
• the Canterbury District Health Board's (CDHB) vision for health services in a community setting
• opportunities to manage a greater range of health services, and
• the challenge to provide an adequate workforce to meet the demand for service.

Implementing solutions to workforce capacity and capability, information on performance and outcomes, funding, and health professional/community involvement in the PHO are all critical success factors in PHC's future.

A critical role for PHOs will be the management of continuity for its enrolled population. Management of continuity refers to:

• the "provision of separate types of healthcare over time in ways that complement each other so 'needed' services are not missed, duplicated or poorly timed"
• "care received from different providers, but connected in a coherent way to meet the needs of the patient"
• a focus on "wellness maintenance" and improvement in 'health and disability problems'.

The emergence of health targets confirms a focus for PHC on chronic disease management across the whole of the Continuity of Care Spectrum, with health promotion/advocacy at one end and medical treatment at the other. It also highlights that to provide this continuity there needs to be an intense focus on further development of sustainable models of General Practice and community care.

PHC would like the following to be said as an indication of how it is assisting individuals with their healthcare:

"Good news: I can offer you this additional care/service because my PHO, Partnership Health Canterbury has made it easy for me to access this funding and works in my community".

Strategic Goals 2008 - 2011*

Our Board has set the following goals as the focus of our attention over the next three years:

1. Good health and wellbeing within our communities.
2. Partnership with our communities of interest, CDHB, IPAs, NGOs and others to establish priorities and enhance the delivery of co-ordinated primary healthcare to individuals, their families and communities.
3. Good decision making and the establishment of priorities by striving to understand the community's health needs through the collection, collation, analysis, and sharing of data and knowledge.
4. Initiate services, systems and support.
5. A responsible, transparent and publicly accountable PHO.

* Originally defined in the Establishment Plan, the Strategic Goals have been partly modified by the Board to better reflect the current understanding of the environment, the needs of the organisation, and the population served.