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To ensure WA general practices have enough stock to vaccinate as many patients as possible, the COVID-19 Stock Redistribution Team at WA Primary Health Alliance (WAPHA) has been busy helping practices link in with other practices and redistribute excess COVID-19 vaccines. Claire Stocks, Practice Manager at Central City Medical Centre in the Perth CBD, said managing COVID vaccine quantities has been challenging recently due to changes in demand. “Initially, we had more patients than vaccines available, with people waiting around in the hopes of getting an extra dose if we had any spares at the end of the day. And then supplies of Pfizer became more available so we ordered extra supplies, opened our vaccine clinic on extra days, and hired and trained up casual staff to help us run the clinics,” she said. However, demand for the COVID-19 vaccines at the Central City Medical Centre suddenly dropped off dramatically and the practice contacted WAPHA’s COVID-19 Stock Redistribution Team to help redistribute its surplus vaccines to nearby practices. “With the expiry date for the vaccines rapidly approaching, WAPHA were great, they were always available by phone to answer my questions. They arranged for several practices to come and collect vials from us. Thanks for your help WAPHA. You are all doing a great job and it’s great to have your support in this COVID vaccine journey,” Ms Stocks said.
Claire Stocks – Practice Manager of Central City Medical Centre. Janet Leighton – Practice Manager of GP on Beaufort. For further information about the transfer of COVID-19 vaccines between participating primary care vaccination sites, refer to the Australian Government Department of Health fact sheet.
The Australian Government is taking further steps to support and strengthen the health system as we move to living with COVID-19. As COVID-19 vaccination rates rise and restrictions are eased, it is expected there will be more but milder COVID-19 cases in the community, people for whom hospital care is neither desirable nor appropriate. General practice is critical to ensuring that COVID-positive people with mild to moderate symptoms can be effectively cared for in the community. The Australian Government is providing support, including several being coordinated through Primary Health Networks, which includes WA Primary Health Alliance (WAPHA). The support includes:
These services will be delivered under the supervision of the managing GP. Further information will be provided to general practices soon. Please note that our Practice Assist service will remain the first point of contact for participating general practices. Email practiceassist@wapha.org.au or call 1800 2 ASSIST (1800 2 277 478) for assistance.
At the recent WA Primary Health Alliance Better Health, Together Stakeholder Forum, keynote speaker Professor Jeremy Nicholson presented on the topic COVID-19 as a systemic disease - Living with COVID could be harder than we think. The Murdoch University Pro-Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences and Director of the Australian National Phenome Centre discussed the complex journey from health into disease caused by SARS COV-2 infection and the long-term effects of COVID-19 on the general population. Visit Primary Health Exchange to download and share the video of the presentation and slide deck, along with the collated actions and recommendations from stakeholders who attended the forum. This forum was in partnership with the WA Department of Health to deliver on the Primary Health Care Round Table election commitment.
With the release of the WA Government’s roadmap to reopen the State’s border, managing the transition with minimal impact to our health system will be key. Join WA Primary Health Alliance and the ABC’s Norman Swan to discuss the countdown to, and pathway out, of COVID-19 for WA. Victorian and NSW GPs will also discuss the impact of the Delta outbreak in their states and what they learnt, and WA-based leaders Dr Andrew Robertson, Dr Sean Stevens and Dr Lorraine Anderson, will drill into what else we need to know to plan the WA response. You will also hear from Dr Matthew Grey (Chair South Western Sydney PHN and NSW GP) and Dr James Wei (GP Regional Victoria). Register for the webinar here.
On 19 November, the WA State government launched a five-week community-led vaccination program to provide more opportunities for Aboriginal people to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. The 'Keeping Culture Safe and Strong: Vaccination Focus' will cover the entire State, from urban to regional to remote communities. Further information is available here.
The WA Department of Health has updated the mythbusters fact sheet for Aboriginal people. This document can be made available in alternative formats for a person with a disability by request to the Department. For further information, you can read the full fact sheet here.
As of 16 November 2021, more than 400,000 Aboriginal people around Australia had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and more than 320,000 are now fully vaccinated. The Department of Health publishes weekly reports on how many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have received a COVID-19 vaccine. To find out the vaccination rate in your area, click here. General practices can play an important role in supporting their Aboriginal patients to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. For more information, access the resources below:
The Australian Government Department of Health has produced a collection of resources explaining how the Delta strain of the COVID-19 virus can spread faster and encouraging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to get the COVID-19 vaccine now. The resources are available for download here.
The COVID-19 vaccination rollout and its complexities have prompted the creation of an influx of fact sheets, documents, posters and how to guides. To make it easier to manage this information, WA Primary Health Alliance (WAPHA) has begun storing resources via Trello boards, which are visually engaging, easy to manage and allow the user to see a resource before going to the effort of downloading it. WAPHA is currently hosting Trello boards with a collection of resources for Aboriginal people and people who speak languages other than English, which you can access below:
If your practice finds the Trello boards useful, please email Practice Assist and WAPHA will create more collections on a variety of subjects.
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) has released a statement on booster vaccines for pregnant women. RANZCOG recommends that pregnant women receive booster vaccinations in line with the recommendations for the non-pregnant adult population. For further information, you can read the statement here.
The WA Department of Health has produced the following posters promoting COVID-19 vaccination for pregnant women that can be used in practice waiting rooms:
Further information about COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy and breastfeeding is available here.
This forum is for individuals and families who are currently pregnant, breastfeeding or considering conceiving and have concerns or questions about COVID vaccinations. It is also open to anyone who is interested in this important topic, including clinicians, administrators or managers who work with pregnant women and their families. The guest speaker is Professor Caroline Homer, Co-Program Director, Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, Burnet Institute. To register, visit the online registration webpage.
From today, My Health Record will display a new COVID-19 vaccination dashboard for patients, where they can view information from the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) about their COVID-19 vaccination journey. The COVID-19 vaccination dashboard in My Health Record provides patients with quick reference to their COVID–19 vaccinations, test results, relevant medicines and allergy information as well as links to the vaccine clinic finder and side-effect checker. In addition, COVID-19 test results will be available to patients as soon as they are uploaded (removing the previous 24-hour delay). And if patients view the dashboard on their mobile device, they can download their COVID-19 digital certificate to a digital wallet. There are also new fields on the My Health Record profile page for patients to add a preferred language and country of birth. In the future, healthcare providers will also be able to see these fields, which may help with providing care to their patients. For further information or assistance, call the My Health Record Helpline on 1800 723 471 and select Option 2. Please note, call charges may apply for mobile phones.
In early November, WA Primary Health Alliance (WAPHA) staff from Perth, Kalgoorlie and Esperance joined together to deliver a Digital Health Roadshow across the Goldfields, covering topics such as virtual consultations, HealthPathways, electronic prescribing and My Health Record. Simon Benge, WAPHA’s Digital Health Team Leader, said that the Digital Health Roadshow travelled more than 1600km through Esperance, Norseman, Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Leonora and Laverton, and included 15 events spread over 5 days. “The roadshow, themed ‘Digitally Connected Communities’, provided a chance for members of WAPHA’s Perth-based Digital Health and HealthPathways teams to meet with regional healthcare providers and explain how digital tools can support clinical practice, strengthen communication and improve access to services for remote communities,” he said. With attendees from general practice, hospitals, allied health and other community organisations, the roadshow events provided a forum for providers to learn from each other and share their ideas about further opportunities for improvement with ongoing support from WAPHA. In addition to events for providers, the roadshow also facilitated sessions with local community members to educate and empower them to support their own health by using My Health Record and electronic prescriptions. “The roadshow events provided the WAPHA teams with valuable insights into how digital tools are already benefitting communities. Whether it was hearing about virtual consultations being provided across state boundaries or a paperless general practice, the roadshow demonstrated just some of the innovations made possible by digital health,” Mr Benge said. For further information about digital health or to share a story about how digital health tools are helping your team achieve better health together, please email Practice Assist. WAPHA staff: Marion Haas, Sarah Brown, Olivia Catchick, Raelene Craft and Simon Benge.
The following content updates have now been published on the HealthPathways site:
To access HealthPathways, email the HealthPathways team at health.pathways@wapha.org.au
The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) 2021 Annual Statement on Immunisation has been published in the Communicable Diseases Intelligence journal. It is the first publication in what will be a regular series. The statement highlights the key successes, trends and challenges in the use of vaccines and control of vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs) in Australia in 2020. The statement also signals ATAGI’s priority actions for addressing key issues for 2021 and beyond. You can read the full statement here.
This Benchmarque Group program is designed to provide students with the skills and knowledge that can be applied to their day-to-day work and will help support a change of practice within their health organisation. By encouraging colleagues and peers to modify and change their current ways of practice, they can make immunisation activities more conducive to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. On completion of this program, students will have the skills and knowledge to work directly with patients, clients, families and communities to provide advice and encouragement to ultimately improve immunisation rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. To complete this program for free, click here and enrol prior to 1 January 2022.
A limited number of fully funded places are available for the University of Melbourne and The Benchmarque Group online authorised immunisation courses. Registered nurses are encouraged to access the websites below for selection criteria and to register their interest by completing the Expression of Interest Form.
Please note, some allocations may have already been exhausted. Expressions of interest for the Benchmarque Group Immunisation Endorsement Pathway are expected to close on Monday 13 December 2021 or before if applications exceed capacity.
NPS MedicineWise is visiting GPs in regional areas to deliver its free, RACGP and ACRRM accredited update on Anticholinergic burden: the unintended consequences for older people. Improving the safe use of medicines with anticholinergic effects for older people can have a positive impact on quality of life and reduce the risk of side effects. This educational visiting program has been developed to:
NPS Educational Visitors are experienced pharmacists able to discuss the latest independent evidence for a range of medication options. A one-to-one discussion with a GP on this topic takes 30 minutes. For a larger group of practice staff, please allow up to an hour. For bookings, visit the NPS MedicineWise website. All NPS MedicineWise topics are also available to be delivered virtually by video call at any time that suits you.
headspace is the Australian Government’s flagship program supporting young people aged 12 to 25 years who have, or are at risk of, mild to moderate mental illness. The Commonwealth Department of Health has engaged a consortium led by KPMG to undertake an independent evaluation of the National headspace Program. The aim of the evaluation is to provide an understanding of the appropriateness, effectiveness and outcomes of headspace to inform future policy decisions about how the program is implemented. As part of the evaluation, the project team would like to engage with general practitioners via a 30-minute Teams meeting to understand when and why they would refer young people to headspace or other programs. For further information or to be involved in the evaluation, please contact Samantha Mayes via smayes@kpmg.com.au
This week, WA Primary Health Alliance (WAPHA) is inviting primary care practitioners with a special interest in alcohol and other drugs (AOD) to participate in WA’s first Project ECHO (Extension for Community Health Outcomes), commencing in February 2022. Recognising the instrumental role of general practice in keeping people well in the community, WAPHA is launching the first Project ECHO on the topic of AOD, with the support of RACGP WA and TADPole (Treating Alcohol and Other Drugs in Primary Care). The Project ECHO AOD Network WA, encourages the connection of primary care providers in rural and metropolitan WA. The AOD Network WA invites general practitioners, nurses, pharmacists, allied health professionals, health professionals with an interest in AOD treatment, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers and health practitioners across WA to participate.
Project ECHO is an evidence-based, peer-learning model which connects healthcare providers from diverse settings with subject matter experts. It uses a Zoom-based videoconferencing platform to enable sharing and development of best practice through case-based learning, with contributions from relevant multidisciplinary perspectives. Project ECHO aims to:
Project ECHO sessions will be held regularly in a drop-in session format from February 2022. Participants can choose to attend as many sessions as they like. Registration provides an opportunity to indicate a preferred day of the week, with final dates to be communicated to participants and promoted on the Primary Health Exchange webpage. If you are a primary health practitioner with an interest in learning more about AOD, please register here to participate. For further information, email Project ECHO Officer, Isobel Storey, via isobel.storey@wapha.org.au
WA Primary Health Alliance (WAPHA) is committed to commissioning and advocating for safe, inclusive and culturally appropriate practices and services for people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities, and its staff and stakeholders. To inform, guide and support the development of WAPHA’s Cultural Competency Framework, a CALD Stakeholder Reference Group is being established. If you would like to be part of this group, expressions of interest are currently being sought from:
If this sounds like you, please submit your EOI by Friday 10 December.
Resistant organisms exist in humans, animals, food, plants and the environment, and the main driver of this resistance is antimicrobial usage. Australia’s National Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy - 2020 and Beyond sets a 20-year vision to protect the health of humans and animals by aiming to control and combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) while continuing to have effective antimicrobials available, through a holistic and multisectoral One Health approach. One of the objectives of the 2020 Strategy aims to ensure that coordinated, evidence-based antimicrobial prescribing guidelines and best-practice supports are made easily available. To address this, the Department of Health has commissioned a suite of seven patient information sheets that healthcare providers can use to engage people in the decision-making process when treating common infections and reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescribing. Further information about the 2020 Strategy is available here.
Patients living with a rare lung condition, such as Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), can find it difficult to access and understand information about their condition, leading to heightened feelings of fear and anxiety. In collaboration with clinical experts, Lung Foundation Australia has developed free, downloadable resource packs to complement treatment plans and help patients living with PAH or COPD effectively self-manage their condition. To find out more, view the PAH resources and the COPD resources on the Lung Foundation Australia website.
WA Primary Health Alliance (WAPHA) and the WA Department of Health have worked together to develop the following resources for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients:
Cancer Council Victoria, supported by the Victorian Government and peak consumer advisory bodies, has refreshed the consumer versions of the Optimal Care Pathways as the Guides to Best Cancer Care. The guides are designed to help patients (and their carers, family and friends) understand the optimal cancer care that should be provided at each step. They are currently available in English and will be available in seven other languages by the end of November. The Guides to Best Cancer Care are available on the Cancer Council Australia website. If you would like further information, email the Optimal Care Pathways Lead, Julia Brancato, via Julia.Brancato@cancervic.org.au
Sexual Health Quarters (SHQ) is committed to empowering and supporting young people with their sexual health and wellbeing. From the 30 November, SHQ will open a Youth Sexual Health Clinic from 5pm to 8pm every Tuesday evening at 70 Roe Street, Northbridge. The friendly team at the clinic will focus on young people aged 14-19 and provide a range of confidential sexual health services, including STI testing and treatment, unintended pregnancy services, contraception services, education and counselling. Practices can download the Youth Sexual Health Clinic poster to display in their waiting room.
The Child and Youth Health Network has created the My Health in My Hands animation to support young people become more independent with their health care. The 3-minute animation is aimed at young people residing in Western Australia aged 12 to 18 and summarises:
The RACGP Mentoring Program is an exciting opportunity for experienced GPs to share their wisdom and support to another GP in the earlier stages of their career. The program provides a platform for GPs to seek support, guidance and advice on tackling a career in general practice, with a particular focus on wellbeing, collegiality and career development. Applications close 30 November 2021. To apply to become a mentor or mentee, visit the Mentoring Program 2022 application webpage.
As part of The Readiness Program, Blue Knot Foundation is bringing you the latest in trauma-informed awareness and support for general practitioners and primary care providers to recognise complex trauma and its possible health presentations. Free for those working in a primary care setting. To register, visit the online registration webpage.
Emergency Service Workers are one of the high-risk groups for trauma exposure and are more vulnerable to developing mental health problems, which can have a significant impact on their employment, family/relationships, and wellbeing. This free workshop has been designed with a focus on GPs, to diagnose patients with acute stress disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and other comorbidities. Evidence based guidelines will be used as the foundation to appropriately diagnose and identify treatment pathways including recommended referrals, trauma focused psychological therapy and psychological first aid to help support their management of emergency service workers. To register, visit the online registration webpage.
The final National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS) webinar for 2021 will focus on COVID-19 in children and adolescents, with an update on:
BreastScreen WA has special permission to use the electoral roll to identify women in the target age group, 50-74 years. However, some women are not on the electoral roll or have recently changed their address. If eligible patients at your practice do not receive an invitation, please encourage them to make an appointment by visiting the BreastScreen WA website or calling 13 20 50.
Venue: Online The RACGP Certificate of Primary Care Dermatology has been developed to help GPs, and GPs in training, increase their expertise and confidence when presented with dermatological cases in their practice. Register for the certificate at any time of the year and complete it at your own pace (within three years). You can sign up per course or enrol for the whole certificate in advance and save $1125 on course fees. To register, visit the online registration webpage.