The Centre is the largest research group in the School of Population Health, growing in size over the past five years to include more than 30 members.
The Centre is an intellectual leader in its field in Australia through its work with linked medical and health data and the evaluation of health services, patient safety, surgical care and pharmaco-epidemiology.
It supports research through the creation and maintenance of data and technical infrastructure, facilitation of an extensive network of collaborators and provision of training opportunities to staff and students.
Purpose
The Centre for Health Services Research was established in 1996 to:
- oversee initial construction of the unique health datasets which are the Western Australian Data Linkage System (WA DLS), one of only six such record linkage systems worldwide
- undertake a core research program of population-based epidemiological studies into health system utilisation and outcomes
- facilitate collaboration between public health and clinical researchers, health care planners and health service administrators.
Aims and priorities
To support health services research through the provision of long-term enabling infrastructure in:
- data linkage
- spatial analysis
- collaborative networks
To contribute to the safety and quality of health care in Australia by monitoring:
- provision of effective care
- provision of inappropriate care
- occurrence of avoidable mistakes
- barriers in access to service
- responsiveness to patients
- racial, ethnic, gender, socio-economic and other disparities and inequalities in access and treatment
Priority areas
Six priority themes have been established:
- Inequalities in health care
- Preventable inpatient time
- Promoting best practice in surgical and procedural care
- Clinical safety and post-implementation surveillance
- Improving medication safety
- Methodological developments in the linkage of the WA Data Linked System to Commonwealth datasets and family linkage
The results will be used to advocate on behalf of vulnerable populations in a country that prides itself on universal access to high quality health services.
School of Population Health
University information
CRICOS Code: 00126G
