The Cohealth review was only launched on Friday, but with a 2.5-month review window that includes the Christmas shutdown period, time is ticking.
To be fair, the Cohealth review was only launched last Friday. And we know the wheels of government can move tediously slow.
But when a deadline of 28 February 2026 has been given, there isn’t much time to muck about.
Embattled community health hub Cohealth has realised this. It was on the front foot, announcing the review before anyone from the government could get their release or terms of reference out first.
This article originally ran on TMR’s sister site, Health Services Daily. TMR readers can sign up for a discounted subscription.
It was also quite speedy in putting up an information page about the review, saying it was “committed to working collaboratively with the Review team and with both the federal and Victorian governments”.
The first question on its page is about whether Cohealth clients can contribute to the review.
Cohealth explained that the review will give opportunities for clients and community members to share their experiences. This isn’t available yet, but when it is Cohealth will update the page, it said.
However, if a client wants to provide their view to support Cohealth’s submission, they could fill in a form — Independent Review of cohealth’s General Practice services – Fill in form
For some Cohealth clients, such as “Alice” (not her real name), this is concerning.
“They’re going to cherry-pick submissions to go in,” she told TMR.
“Cohealth is in denial about what is being reviewed. They’re not talking about governance or finances. They’re gaslighting the government, pointing fingers, [saying] it’s all the government’s fault.
“Where’s their responsibility in all of this? Any submission is going to be one-eyed,” she said.
Alice is concerned that most Cohealth patients don’t really know what is going on. They’ve received a series of “bad news” text messages that all start with “Hello, as a valued Cohealth client, we care deeply about your health and wellbeing”.
Then on 20 November, clients received a text message telling them that a reprieve had been delivered in the form of $1.5 million from the federal government. However, that hasn’t impacted the pharmacy and counselling at the Collingwood site, which is still slated for closure on 19 December.
Alice is also concerned about the short timeframe, saying when you remove the public holidays and weekends, there are only 55 days until the review deadline.
Related
“There’s been no real announcement as to when the review will commence. When will they talk to the staff? What about the staff that are on holidays?
“How are they going to engage with clients, how will voices be heard?” she questioned.
She’s concerned about the number of people in Cohealth’s patient cohort who don’t have internet access or a smartphone and/or don’t have English as their first language.
“There are 12,500 patients across all sites. The government hasn’t outlined how they’re going to engage with clients for submissions.”
We put these questions to the federal Department of Health, Disability and Ageing and to the leader of the review, Professor Stephen Duckett.
DoHDA did not respond before deadline.
Professor Duckett said the review was not fully set up yet, “but it is our intention to invite submissions to a mailbox that we will be setting up”.
Alice hopes the review reaches as many Cohealth clients as possible.
“The review needs to include the voices of the people most affected,” she said. “It will give more credibility to the conclusions.”
