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An expert research group from across WA, Australia and New Zealand has developed an online survey to gauge the uptake of HealthPathways (HPW), and the barriers and enablers to its use within Australia and New Zealand. The study is the first national investigation into the update of HPW and could be vital in determining future policy development and implementation strategies pertaining to HPW.
If you are, or know of, a practicing health professional and would be interested in being a part of the study, please follow the link below to have your say.
https://is.gd/HealthPathwaysSurvey
The Curtin University Human Resource Ethics Office has approved the study. HREC approval number SPH-09-2014-05. For further information please contact Richard Varhol at Richard.Varhol@wapha.org.au
The Emergency Response Planning Tool (ERPT) is a cloud-based tool which assists general practices to better prepare for, respond to, and recover from, the impacts of emergencies and pandemics. The RACGP Standards for general practices (5th edition) require practices to have a contingency plan for adverse and unexpected events such as natural disasters, pandemic diseases or hte sudden unexpected absence of clinica staff (Criterion C3.3). The ERPT is one way that general practices can meet this Criterion. The ERPT guides practices through a series of planning templates where critical information about the practice is entered and saved. The critical information entered in the ERPT is used to create an emergency response plan which is individually tailored to the practice, providing a roadmap to recovering from emergencies. The ERPT is managed by HealthPoint ANZ and was developed in collaboration with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP). How much does it cost? The WA Primary Health Alliance (WAPHA) is funding a limited number of licenses for the first-year subscription of the ERPT. Licenses will be available on a first come, first served basis. This offer will save general practices in WA $300 plus GST. How do I access the tool? Register your practice by accessing the following link and complete the registration details. For more information, see our fact sheet on the ERPT, contact your Primary Health Liaison or Practice Assist on 1800 2 ASSIST (1800 2 277 478) or email support@practiceassist.com.au.
Dementia is a trillion-dollar disease with no cure, and it is now the second leading cause of death in Australia. Policies and clinical guidelines indicate a role for primary care in preventing dementia. The PRECIPICE Project is seeking GPs and Practice Nurses to help us understand dementia prevention in the primary care setting. You do not need to have any special interest in dementia or preventing dementia. We just want to hear your views and current practices, and the barriers and enablers to working with your patients to reduce dementia risk. You can participate on your own or with your colleagues, by telephone or by video link. Eligible participants can claim the time towards their self-directed CPD programs. To find out more, visit go.unimelb.edu.au/mjd6 or contact Kali from the research team directly. Phone 0470 241 932 or email k.godbee@student.unimelb.edu.au.
You can also contact the Menzies team directly, by emailing bowelscreening@menzies.edu.au or phone Boden or Jenny on (07) 3169 4240.
These events are often in high demand, so we recommend registering as soon as possible so you don’t miss out!
Date: Wednesday, 18 July 2018 Time: 10.30am – 11.30am Venue: Live via webcast Cost: Free Register: To register, please visit here.
Date: Saturday, 28 July 2018 Time: 6.00pm – 9.00pm (5.45pm – Registrations) Venue: Kailis Bros, 101 Oxford St, Leederville WA 6007 Cost: Free (dinner and refreshments provided) Register: To register, please visit: https://www.ashm.org.au/training/
Presented by North Metropolitan Health Service and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in partnership with WA Primary Health Alliance and HealthPathways WA. Topics for this event include: Anorexia Nervosa, Emergency Presentation with Mental Health Issues, Somatisation, Low Back Pain and many more. This activity has 40 Category One QI&CPD points.
GPs will need to respond to Commonwealth funding changes that will incentivise better use of practice data. WA Primary Health Alliance (WAPHA) invites GPs to join Chair, Dr Richard Choong, and General Manager State-Wide Commissioning & Clinician Engagement, Bernadette Kenny for a discussion on the power of practice data; how it can be used to optimise business performance and drive quality improvements that provide better patient care.
Date: Tuesday, 24 July 2018 Time: 7.00am – 8.30am (6.45am – Registrations) Venue: Matilda Bay Restaurant – Roe Room, 3 Hackett Drive, Crawley WA 6009 Cost: Free Register: To register, please visit here.
This seminar is about The Bulging Obesity Crisis: Current Management Trend and Neurological Disorders: Useful Information, Therapy Solutions and Neuro-Rehabilitation. This seminar provides 4 hours towards your CPD requirements.
Date: Saturday, 28 July 2018 Time: 11.30am – 5.00pm Venue: International on the Water Hotel, 1 Epsom Avenue, Ascot WA 6984 Cost: $55 for members; $85 for non-members Register: To register, please fill out this form here and email wapnasecretary@gmail.com by 20 July 2018
The RACGP are running a series of ‘My Health Record in general practice’ face-to-face workshops being held across Australia, including the following locations in Western Australia:
Perth – My Health Record in general practice workshop
Date: Tuesday, 7 August 2018 Time: 7.00pm – 9.00pm Venue: RACGP WA Faculty Office, 34 Harrogate Street, West Leederville WA 6007 Cost: Free
Broome – My Health Record in general practice workshop
Date: Wednesday, 29 August 2018 Time: 7.00pm – 9.00pm Venue: Mangrove Hotel, 47 Carnarvon Street, Broome WA 6725 Cost: Free
The Broome event is being run in conjunction with the RACGP WA Faculty who will be conducting a PLAN workshop session as a breakfast workshop on the Thursday morning. Details are as follows:
RACGP WA is holding a FREE Information Session to assist GPs to complete the new online planning learning and needs activity (PLAN). The session will be followed by an interactive workshop to assist you onsite until 10am. Please bring your own device.
This session is accredited for 3 Category Two points, delivered by Sharon Safstrom QI&CPD Coordinator for WA. PLAN is an online activity designed to assist you to map out and document your learning needs. It is a mandatory QI&CPD requirement for the 2017-19 triennium.
Date: Thursday, 30 August 2018 Time: 7.30am – 9.00am (7.15am – Registrations) Venue: Mangrove Hotel, 47 Carnarvon Street, Broome WA 6725 Cost: Free (light breakfast provided) Register: To register, please visit https://bit.ly/2KXvJCv. Bookings are essential.
The Practice Managers Education Day will provide practice managers of varying experience with the opportunity to hear from industry experts on a range of topics to help work cohesively and effectively with your team. There will also be opportunity for networking with fellow practice managers. Session topics include Workplace Mental and Wellbeing, Business Management and Planning, Financial Transparency, Bullying and Harassment and Quality Improvement.
Date: Friday, 17 August 2018 Time: 8.00am – 4.00pm Venue: Technology Park Function Centre, Bentley WA 6102 Cost: $260pp for AAPM members; $360pp for non-members Register: To register, please visit here.
Presented by Advance Care Planning Australia, WA Cancer and Palliative Care Network and Cancer Council Western Australia, this Perth-based seminar will be run by recognised leaders in the field of advance care planning across sectors, legal considerations and implementation. The event is recommended for professionals leading and implementing advance care planning in health services, residential aged care and primary care.
Date: Tuesday, 21 August 2018 Time: 9.00am – 4.30pm (8.30am – Registration) Venue: Bendat Parent and Community Centre, 36 Dodd Street, Wembley 6014 Cost: $150pp early bird special, $195pp general rate Register: To register, please visit here.
A networking opportunity for GP practices and local health services in the Armadale community. The WA Primary Health Alliance (WAPHA) and City of Armadale invite you to our next networking event to meet your local health services, including Mental health and psychological services, Aboriginal health services, Drug and alcohol services and many more.
Date: Tuesday, 28 August 2018 Time: 6.00pm – 7.30pm Venue: Avocados Perth, 2 Mount Street Kelmscott WA 6111 Cost: Free Register: To register, please visit here.
Is your practice looking for a health promotion activity for your practice? Each edition we provide a list of upcoming health promotion activities for the coming months along with resources and contact details.
You can also view all health promotion activities for the year by visiting Practice Assist’s health calendar: https://bit.ly/2HWZX3B
It has been over two years since revolutionary direct acting antiviral medications (DAAs) for treating the hepatitis C virus (HCV) were listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) as s85 and s100 medications. This ground breaking decision enabled general practitioners to initiate treatment.
Despite this development, Western Australia has lagged behind other states as far as treatment uptake is concerned. Between March 2016, and June 2017, only 16% of the affected population initiated hepatitis C treatment.
Encouragingly though, to March 2017, 80% of hepatitis C treatment initiations in WA were prescribed by GPs. With on-going GP participation, we can all work to increase treatment rates across WA, and strive towards the virtual elimination of hepatitis C by 2030.
World Hepatitis Day takes place on 28th July each year, and with the effective DAAs available for hepatitis C, the significance of this day is immense. The medications are curative (90%-95% of cases), have much shorter treatment duration than previous treatments (8-12 weeks usually), are orally administered, and also importantly – present little or no side-effects.
In WA, Hepatitis Awareness Week runs from Monday 23rd July to Saturday 28th July, to coincide with World Hepatitis Day. This is a great opportunity to have the conversation with patients about their viral hepatitis status, to increase testing and of course treatment initiation.
For information about prescribing, consult The Silver Book (Guidelines for managing STIs and BBVs).
For information about Hepatitis Awareness Week, World Hepatitis Day and other services available for those at risk, or affected by viral hepatitis contact Hepatitis WA https://www.hepatitiswa.com.au/ or Peer Based Harm Reduction WA https://harmreductionwa.org/.