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From November 2016, the Australian Government National Immunisation Program (NIP) provides a free shingles vaccine program for 70 year olds, with a time-limited catch-up program for people 71 to 79 years old available until October 2021.
At the commencement of the program, the interest in the vaccine was unprecedented. Early shortages have been addressed and there is now ample stock available to meet ongoing demand under the program.
To assist in promoting the program and to ensure people 70 to 79 years old are protected against shingles, it is now timely that providers:
Zostavax® supplies can be ordered through the same process currently used to order vaccines for the NIP through your state or territory Health Department.
For further information, clinical advice and promotional materials for the National Shingles Vaccination Program are available for download online at the Department of Health’s immunisation website.
Invasive Meningococcal Disease is increasing. MenW emerged as an increasing cause of Meningococcal Disease, making up of almost half of the Australian cases in 2016. In 2017, MenB strains increased to levels similar to MenW. With the latest facts about Meningococcal Disease and vaccination, this webinar covers everything you need to know about the disease and available vaccines. Learn about:
Changes to the rebates and item descriptors for urgent after-hours MBS items 567-600 are effective from 1 March 2018. In addition, the Australian Government has committed to clarifying the advertising of deputising services and reaffirm alignment with Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) requirements and standards.
The updated Guidelines do not impact on AMDSs’ advertising their services to general practices, and general practices may continue to advertise the after-hours extension of their practice to patients. It is also considered appropriate for Primary Health Networks (PHNs) to continue to provide information to consumers about after-hours services in their respective regions. If you have queries, please contact AMDS@health.gov.au
The HealthPathways Team has recently reviewed and updated two mental health pathways, Better Access and Mental Health Treatment Plan (MHTP). HealthPathways GP Clinical Editor, Dr Irene Dolan reviewed the pathways. Items of note include:
MedicineInsight is a program developed and managed by NPS MedicineWise that supports general practices with their quality improvement initiatives.
The MedicineInsight portal is very user friendly. It can be navigated simply by clicking on tabs and graphs to drill down to more detail in your practice data. Searches and views can be customised to your own preferences and priorities, which can be saved to a dashboard, allowing you to easily monitor your practice progress over time.
The MedicineInsight portal can help practices identify patient groups who may be undertreated, potentially at risk, or would benefit from recall and review. MedicineInsight also supports your chornic disease management and medication management activities and can help you achieve accreditation standards by highlighting gaps in your clinical data.
General practitioners should be aware of the Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme that takes effect from February 22 this year under the Privacy Act. The scheme requires entities (including health service providers) to notify individuals involved, and the Australian Information Commissioner, about any ‘eligible data breaches’. A data breach is eligible if it is ‘likely to result in serious harm to any of the individuals to whom the information relates’. ‘Serious harm’ is not defined but should be considered holistically as including potential physical, psychological or emotional harm.
Examples of potentially eligible data breaches in general practice could include incidents like emailing or sending patient information to an incorrect address or fax number, access by an unauthorised person to the patient medical record, or the unauthorised disclosure of medical information.
More information, including how to identify an eligible data breach and how to make a report, can be found here.
Advice may also be available from your medical indemnity provider.
The Final Year Rural GP Placements Program is seeking rural doctors throughout Western Australia who are willing to:
In Australia, over 75% of cancers first present in general practice as a result of symptoms. General practitioners play a key role in the early detection of cancer. General practitioners can experience challenges in early diagnosis as most general practitioners may only see between five to 10 new cases of cancer among thousands of consultations per year. Additionally, cancers in general practice often present with subtle non-specific symptoms and most symptoms of cancer can also have more common benign causes.
To assist general practitioners, Cancer Council Western Australia presents the Find Cancer Early GP Education Project with a new resource guide for general practitioners on colorectal, lung, prostate and breast cancer. The ‘Find Cancer Early: A Guide for General Practitioners’ resource provides evidence-based approaches to assess cancer symptoms to aid decision-making around further investigation or referral. The guide comes with a short video explaining how to use the guide in clinical practice and a WA Cancer Referral Directory. These resources are also accompanied with a Find Cancer Early Webinar Series.
To access the resources and view the webinar recordings, visit here.
The resource is available online, or if you prefer a hard copy of the publication please contact Rural Health West or download an order form.
We are seeking the involvement of general practitioners in small group sessions in Perth to discuss the provision of end of life care in general practice. This refers to any care provided by general practitioners in the last 12 months of a patient’s life.
These sessions are part of the study Evaluation of community-based end of life care in Australia, which is being run within the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Western Australia.
The focus of our project is on any issues or challenges experienced by general practitioners in providing care for patients in their last 12 months of life.
These small group sessions would be conducted within your practice at a convenient time (such as breakfast meetings, lunch-time or after work) or any other specified location that you prefer. The duration of the meetings is usually around 25-35 minutes. This study will be undertaken in March, April and May of 2018.
All responses will be considered completely anonymous, and no feedback will be linked back to specific practices or general practitioners.
We will provide reimbursement of $85 to each general practitioner for their attendance to acknowledge the time taken in being involved in this part of our project.
If you would like to join us or are interested in finding out more about the study, please contact angus.cook@uwa.edu.au or (08) 6488 7805.
The General Practice Rural Incentives Program (GPRIP) is designed to attract and retain medical practitioners in regional and remote areas of Australia. GPRIP provides financial incentives to doctors providing eligible non-Medicare services in rural and remote locations. Incentives are tiered based on remoteness, and increase the longer a medical practitioner works in rural and remote locations. The table below outlines the maximum level of incentives that can be claimed under GPRIP. Visit the Rural Health West website for more information about GPRIP, including determining your eligibility.
GPRIP uses the Modified Monash (MM) Model geographical classification system.
General practitioners, practice managers, nurse managers and nurses are invited to attend an interactive evening to meet the commissioned WAPHA services in Mandurah and Rockingham. This is an opportunity to meet providers face to face and see what they can offer your patients.
Date: Wednesday, 14 March 2018 Time: 6.00pm – 8.30pm (5.30pm – Arrival) Venue: Mandurah Quay Resort, 40 Marina Quay Drive, Erskine 6210 Cost: Free Register: To register, please visit the following website.
Delivered by the Cancer Screening Unit, Preventive Health Branch of Queensland Health, and in collaboration with Iris Education this free session will provide a detailed review of the rationale and evidence driving the changes, consideration of issues, challenges and lessons learned already in applying the changes in practice. It will also use interactive case studies and role plays to consider specific management issues with a facilitated panel discussion providing the opportunity to ask questions and assist participants to build knowledge and confidence to discuss the changes with their patients. This activity has 12 Category Two QI&CPD points attached.
Date: Saturday, 17 March 2018 Time: 8.30am – 4.00pm Venue: Live via webcast Cost: Free Register: To register, please visit the following website.
Roz Lindsay from Engaging Potential is presenting Living and Leading the Change Process. This session aims to introduce key concepts associated with overcoming people’s resistance to change. Through a mix of concepts, practical methods and discussions this workshop will explore the brain’s role in change, the barriers to implementing change and ways to address these barriers. This activity has 8 Category Two QI&CPD points attached.
Date: Monday, 19 March 2018 Time: 4.00pm – 8.00pm Venue: WAPHA Offices: 2-5, 7 Tanunda Drive, Rivervale 6103 Cost: Free Register: To register, please visit the following website.
This is a free education session that will provide an informative and relevant update for general practitioners on lung cancer, with presentations from specialists on a range of topics. Presenters include Dr Annette McWilliams (Head of Service, Respiratory Medicine, Fiona Stanley Hospital), Dr Fraser Brims (Consultant Physician, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital), and Dr Tim Clay (Medical Oncologist). This activity has 4 Category Two QI&CPD points attached.
Date: Tuesday, 20 March 2018 Time: 6.00pm – 8.30pm Venue: The Bendat Parent & Community Centre, 36 Dodd Street, Wembley WA 6014 Cost: Free Register: To register, please visit the following website.
Date: Saturday, 24 March – Sunday, 25 March 2018 Venue: Hyatt Regency, 99 Adelaide Terrace, Perth WA 6000 Cost: Early bird for GPs and specialists $600, discounted prices for students and registrars Register: To register, please visit the following website.
This workshop by Cancer Council WA will examine the elements of Advance Care Planning and the implications for the health system, professionals, patient and families.
Date: Wednesday, 11 April 2018 Time: 8.30am – 4.00pm (8.15am – Registration) Venue: Seminar Room, Cancer Council WA, 15 Bedbrook Place, Shenton Park 6008 Cost: $95 Register: To register, please visit the following website.
This active learning module (ALM) provides you with the opportunity to gain insight into how you can be assisted with best practice identification and management of dementia in general practice.
Date: Saturday, 21 April 2018 Time: 9.00am – 5.00pm (8:30am – Registration) Venue: Pan Pacific Perth, 207 Adelaide Terrace, Perth WA 6000 Cost: Free Register: To register, please visit the following website.
Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association (APNA) is thrilled to deliver the highly regarded Foundations of General Practice Nursing Workshops Australia wide. General practice nursing is a different and unfamiliar environment to other areas of nursing practice. Developed and facilitated by local nurse leaders, this highly engaging two-day workshop will provide an overview of the knowledge and key skills required by nurses new and transitioning into general practice, and those looking for an update.
Date: Friday, 8 June – Saturday, 9 June 2018 Time: 8.45am – 5.00pm (8:30am – Registration) Venue: Cliftons Perth – Parmelia House, 191 St Georges Terrace, Perth WA 6000 Cost: $350 (APNA member), $450 (Non-member) Register: To register, please visit the following website.
Throughout March, Epilepsy Australia is urging people around the country to end the stigma and discrimination of epilepsy and ‘GO PURPLE’, the international colour for epilepsy. Epilepsy is a common brain disorder which takes the form of recurring seizures. In Australia alone approximately 250, 000 people live with epilepsy and one in 25 people will have epilepsy at some point in their life. This year Purple Day falls on Easter Saturday so we are encouraging the community to pick any day during March and ‘GO PURPLE’ to support and increase awareness and understanding of epilepsy. Australians can show their support by hosting a Purple Day fundraising event at school, with friends or at work, buying merchandise or making a donation to raise epilepsy awareness.
For more information visit here: https://www.epilepsyaustralia.net/get-involved/
This iconic event is one of Australia’s biggest fundraisers. It’s an annual event where family, friends, businesses and individuals come together to raise money by getting sponsored to be brave and shave their head. You can also show your support by colouring your hair, waxing and more. The money collected from sponsors will go towards research, which is needed to find better treatments and cures for leukaemias, lymphomas, myeloma and related blood disorders.
Youth Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) will be running an 8-week Encore program designed for women who have experienced breast cancer. Encore incorporates gentle exercise (such as hydrotherapy) to help restore mobility, flexibility and confidence.
For more information, visit https://ywcaperth.com.au/