Davies to join UQ population health

THE former deputy secretary of the Federal government’s department of health and ageing, Philip Davies, will join the University of Queensland‘s school of population health as professor of health systems and policy.

The Head of UQ’s School of Population Health, Professor Alan Lopez, said that Professor Davies brought outstanding experience and credentials in health systems, which had emerged as a major concern for governments working within strict fiscal constraints.

“Health systems performance is becoming more important for government policy and expenditure, with governments increasingly looking for ways to make health systems more efficient,” Professor Lopez said.

Professor Davies joined the department of health and ageing in 2002 and is credited with playing a lead role in establishing the national health call centre and primary care collaboratives program; establishing the Commonwealth’s national blood authority; and leading the health care component of the Northern Territory intervention.

He also led the Federal Government’s work in the field of e-health, serving as a member of the steering group for the development of the national e-health strategy, and chaired the Pacific senior health officials network, funded by AusAID.

Prior to joining DoHA, Professor Davies’ international career in health care policy and management included roles as a health-care management consultant and partner with Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers), Deputy Director-General of the New Zealand Ministry of Health and senior health economist with the World Health Organization.

Professor Davies said he had always been a strong advocate for evidence-based policy, while also believing it is important for students and researchers to have a good understanding of the realities of policymaking and how government works.

Professor Davies will join the school in mid-April, taking on academic leadership of the school’s postgraduate and undergraduate teaching in health systems.

Established in 2001 and part of UQ’s Faculty of Health Sciences, the School of Population Health has more than 2000 enrolments in its programs.

The School’s research programs attract significant research funding from the Australian Government’s National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), AusAID as well as organisations as diverse as the UK’s Wellcome Trust, Atlantic Philanthropies and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.