25 July 2024
WA Primary Health Alliance acknowledges and pays respect to the Traditional Owners and Elders of this country and recognises the significant importance of their cultural heritage, values and beliefs and how these contribute to the positive health and wellbeing of the whole community. Throughout this newsletter, the term 'Aboriginal' is used to refer to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, unless stated otherwise.
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Some general practitioners that deliver care to residential aged care homes operate as sole providers and mobile practices and until recently were not eligible for accreditation under the RACGP accreditation standards.
Following consultation, the definition of a general practice has been expanded by RACGP, providing an opportunity for more practices to benefit from enhanced quality and safety and practice incentive payments.
The RACGP Interpretative guide for non-traditional general practices for the purposes of accreditation provides general practices and accreditation assessors information to understand how the RACGP 5th Edition standards apply to general practices previously not eligible for accreditation. The interpretive guide outlines how indicators in the standards may apply differently or may not be relevant to non-traditional practices and those without a physical clinic premises.
Whilst MyMedicare, and the General Practice in Aged Care Incentive require a practice to be accredited, an exemption is in place until 30 June 2025.
This will enable ‘non-traditional practices’ such as mobile general practitioners providing essential visiting services to Residential Aged Care Homes to participate in MyMedicare, and the General Practice in Aged Care Incentive.
Follow the links below to:
Non-traditional practices do not need to indicate their intention to become accredited to register and participate during the exemption period.
WAPHA will provide updates about the accreditation pathway and process for non-traditional practices as more information is made available by accreditation agencies.
If your practice is planning to participate in the General Practice in Aged Care Incentive, you may be considering the practicalities of how to sign up your patients living in an aged care home for MyMedicare. There are several approaches to how your practice can do this and we’ve provided a few options for you to consider and adapt to suit your practice setting below. Of course, you’ll need to make sure your practice is signed up to MyMedicare beforehand. Services Australia has some handy resources about how to sign up your practice.
To inform patients and their carers about MyMedicare the resources below can help explain the benefits and what it means for them.
Patient Brochures
Patient Videos
In preparation for MyMedicare, it’s important for practices to come together as a team to understanding why it is important for them and their patients. In a recent interview, Dr Walid Jammal from Hills Family General Practice commented that every practice will have its own response to the reform, but by focusing on patients, practices can prepare for the changes to come. “We’re moving towards a cohort driven, patient centred model of care that involves in-reach and outreach to our patients and is funded by a blended funding model.” Watch more as Dr Jammal shares his insights into what practices should be doing to prepare for the Medicare reform. Click image to watch now!
The Strengthening Medicare GP Grants program has now come to an end. Practices who have not yet completed the financial acquittal and self-evaluation survey forms are required to complete these forms no later than Wednesday 31 July 2024. The links to the forms can be found below:
If there are any concerns with grant expenditure at this time, please email gpgrants@wapha.org.au as soon as possible to discuss.
The Awards acknowledge the dedication of health professionals who have enhanced the range and quality of medical care available in rural Western Australia. Whether it's through exceptional patient care or leadership in clinical practice, we want to celebrate those who make a difference. To learn more about each award category and the nomination criteria, please visit the 2025 WA Rural Health Excellence Awards website. Rural Health West looks forward to receiving your nominations and celebrating the outstanding contributions of rural health professionals in WA.
As pertussis notifications rise, experts are urging the community to be up to date with their vaccinations, in particular those planning a pregnancy or currently pregnant. After decreasing from an average 12,280 per year in 2017–2019 to 3,457 in 2020 and just 550 in 2021, pertussis notifications in Australia have surged of late. Over 13,000 notifications have been recorded across Australia this year, with the highest numbers seen in Queensland and New South Wales. Western Australia has 229 cases notified thus far in 2024.
Eligibility for the WA government-funded mpox vaccine has been expanded to include people living with HIV, if at risk of Mpox exposure, as well as their sexual partners, to reflect the Australian Immunisation Handbook recommendations. For a complete list of all eligible persons and where to get the Mpox vaccine, please see Mpox (monkeypox) (health.wa.gov.au).
The latest Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) tip provides advice and information on how to record and report the 'vaccine type' field to the AIR. Read more here.
Immunisation Foundation of Australia has recently launched another season of their popular “Matter of Vax” podcasts. This season, they are taking a deep dive into the science behind a variety of vaccine-preventable diseases, including RSV, Pertussis, Pregnancy Vaccines, Travel Vaccines, and Hepatitis. As part of this series, there are 5 new short videos available on our website, which can be shared and/or downloaded for use in clinics or on social media. Head to the website for more information https://www.ifa.org.au/matterofvax
The shingles vaccine Shingrix replaced Zostavax on the National Immunisation Program (NIP) on 1 November 2023. A two-dose course of Shingrix is available for free for eligible people most at risk of complications from shingles. These groups are:
There are a range of resources to help you start the conversation. Your recommendations and advice play a very important role in a patient's decision about vaccination. Available resources:
Join National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS) for their upcoming webinar on rabies and vaccines to have before travelling. Hear more about which vaccine-preventable diseases are emerging globally – and how – and the implications for travellers. The panel of international and local experts will present on topics of current relevance to immunisation and health professionals including:
More information, including short biographies of the presenters, can be found on the event webpage. This event will be recorded and made available on the NCIRS website in the days following the webinar. Register now to receive the link to the recording via email when it becomes available.
This event aims to highlight advancements in diagnosis, treatment and prevention of pneumococcal disease.
To register for this activity, simply:
Click on the arrow next to the event and click on register.
The Department of Health and Aged Care recently launched the NLCSP public website, available at: health.gov.au/nlcsp. The website provides key NLCSP updates, including the work of the organisations assisting with designing and developing the program. Key partnerships are held with:
The National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) will be hosting 2 one-hour webinars for staff from ACCHOs and AMS’ on the cervical screening self-collection option for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander women and people with a cervix. Offering these patients the option to collect their own test provides greater choice and empowerment in screening and discussing screening in a culturally sensitive manner can overcome barriers to participation. Come along to learn more about how we can increase cervical screening awareness and participation amongst Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander women and people with a cervix. Hear from:
WA Primary Health Alliance (WAPHA) has a new funding model to assist COVID-19 vaccination providers and expressions of interest have just opened online. The program aims to increase COVID-19 vaccination for vulnerable populations within WA. This program will offer immunisers the opportunity to participate in a targeted program to support vulnerable people who are unable to receive a vaccination through usual channels. This could include housebound individuals or those facing significant challenges in attending vaccination centres or practices during routine business hours. Vulnerable populations in Australia are often disadvantaged when it comes to accessing vaccines and attending a general practice. For further information please go to our COVID-19 Vaccination & Resources webpage. If you have any queries, please email our COVID-19 Team: gpvaccination@wapha.org.au
Older age continues to be the biggest risk factor for severe COVID-19 illness or death. Vaccination is the best way to protect older people from severe illness, hospitalisation or death from COVID-19.
WA Primary Health Alliance, through its COVID-19 Primary Care Support Program, is providing funding to support General Practice’s and Pharmacists ensure that those who have a higher risk of severe illness have access to the vaccination. Read more about the program.
With 180 telehealth medical carts now delivered into residential aged care homes across WA, WA Primary Health Alliance (WAPHA) is offering training support to GPs to learn more about how to interact with the software and more specifically, conduct telehealth video consultation. “I am amazed as to how much the telehealth cart can do – from auscultation of someone’s lungs to real time video of lesions so you can see things from a few angles. It makes me feel more confident when making judgement calls for patients who might be starting to deteriorate but I cannot get to them that day. I can already think of a few patients that I could have used it for in the past where I wasn’t super sure about a patient’s actual condition. It is highly likely that it might help me sleep better at night knowing the patient will be ok by staying at the RACF. At present, the only other alternative is to send a patient to hospital if the nursing staff are worried and I cannot evaluate the patient to a standard I am happy with, which isn’t ideal.” Dr Anastasia Isakova, Sage Medical Consulting FRACGP, MBBS The telehealth carts enable GPs who have clients in residential aged care homes to provide better patient care in comparison to more traditional telehealth consults. All that is required for GPs to engage with their patients via the telehealth carts is a laptop with a camera (or in absence, an iPad, tablet or mobile device). Telehealth appointments can be completed in the comfort of one's office or home, allocating more time back into your day and/or providing convenience to see patients outside of normal hours. We welcome you to get in contact for more information or to enquire about training by emailing practiceassist@wapha.org.au or calling 1800 2 ASSIST (1800 2 277 478 or 08 6278 7900). WAPHA is also providing GPs that complete a training session a certificate of attendance where you can self-log CPD. For a list of residential aged care homes with the equipment click here.
We know that health data linkage helps us better understand the patient journey across different parts of the health care system and supports us to commission the right kind of services for GPs and their patients, where they are needed the most. But health service data in WA is not currently linked across the primary care and hospital sectors.
As the operator of WA’s three Primary Health Networks (PHNs), WA Primary Health Alliance (WAPHA) is working to develop a timely, automated, and scalable data linkage solution that encompasses the WA health sector and that can be replicated across other PHNs nationally through the secure, PHN-owned, Primary Health Insights data platform .
The pilot project will utilise the de-identified data already collected by Primary Sense, to differentiate healthcare pathways between patients managed within the practices participating in our Chronic Heart Failure (CHF) intervention and those managed in non-CHF intervention practices.
Using Privacy Preserving Record Linkage technology, WAPHA will be working with the Curtin Centre for Data Linkage and WA Health Data Linkage Unit to develop a proof-of-concept data linkage model to assess the impacts of this CHF intervention on hospital activity, health system cost savings and all-cause mortality.
This process will be governed by your existing Primary Sense DSA, ensuring data is governed responsibly, privacy protected and securely stored and managed in Australia by the PHN-owned Primary Health Insights platform. Patient identifiers are irreversibly encoded and encrypted, and WAPHA will not receive identifying information of individuals or practices as a result of any data linkage methods.
WAPHA will soon be contacting all Primary Sense practices to provide more detailed information on the use of Primary Sense data for this research project and ensure practices are aware on how to withdraw from participating in sharing their data prior to project commencement.
More information on data linkage is available here and practices are encouraged to email WAPHA Analytics and Insights Manager, Dr Christina Read with further questions christina.read@wapha.org.au.
WA Primary Health Alliance is seeking GPs and their clinical teams to participate in interviews to give insight into the attitudes, barriers and enablers to supporting children with weight related health concerns. This consultation will inform current gaps in resources to support children in primary health care. We are looking to interview general practice staff from the following fields:
In 2022, WAPHA launched the SHAPE website and Conversations about Weight modules to support health care professionals to play a more central role in supporting patients with weight concerns. To build this, we will be developing additional tools and resources to assist the delivery of accessible, patient-centred weight management care to support children and their families. Interviews can be conducted in person at your practice or virtually, and will take a maximum of one hour. A participation payment of $120 per interview for GPs and $90 for allied health staff and practice nurses is offered for your time. Register your interest to participate in this research by contacting Andrea Vermeersch, Healthy Weight Program Coordinator, WA Primary Health Alliance Andrea.Vermeersch@wapha.org.au Interviews will begin the week commencing 29 July 2024.
Help celebrate the 36th annual Red Nose Day. Register a fundraiser, buy merchandise or donate to help save little lives, support grieving families and fund ground-breaking research.
Funds raised on Red Nose Day over the last 36 years have resulted in an incredible 80 per cent reduction in sudden infant deaths. That’s 12,069 babies saved and counting.
Red Nose Day sparked a global movement and catalysed research into the reasons why babies die suddenly in their sleep.
And because of that, we now have six evidence-based steps all parents can take to reduce the risk of their baby dying in their sleep.
None of this would have been possible without the incredible public support for Red Nose Day.
Visit the Red Nose Day website to get involved.
Vaccination during pregnancy does not only protect the mother but also generates antibodies that can cross the placenta, providing protection to the unborn baby. Immunisations are even more important as we age. Our immune system begins to decline in its ability to fight off infections, which makes people ages over 65 (Aboriginal people over 55) and older more vulnerable to diseases like influenza, COVID-19, pneumonia, and shingles. Topics included in this webinar:
WA Primary Health Alliance (WAPHA) is providing GPs in WA with paid online Initial Assessment and Referral Decision Support Tool (IAR-DST) training, designed to help practitioners and clinicians recommend the most appropriate level of care for a person seeking mental health support. GPs and GP registrars who attend the two workshops in the one online session will be remunerated $300 and CPD hours are available.
The Department of Health and Aged Care is hosting a webinar for Residential Aged Care Homes, Aged Care Providers, residents and their families and carers. The webinar will outline how the new General Practice in Aged Care Incentive aims to improve access to general practice care and benefits for aged care providers and residents. Speakers include:
If you belong to one of the intended audience categories listed above and would like to register for the webinar, please click here.
Please make your GPs and GP registrars aware that they can attend free online training sessions throughout the 2024 calendar year with a choice of target topics including:
CPD hours are available for the online training sessions. For more information, dates and registration links, visit WAPHA’s suicide prevention webpage.
The Chronic Conditions of the Foot workshop will focus on building a practical skillset for foot assessment that enables a healthcare practitioner to be competent and confident in chronic conditions of the foot basic care. This workshop is supported by funding from the Australian Government Department of Health under the Chronic Disease Support Project. For more information, view the flyer.