-
Commonwealth and State supplies of surgical masks are critically low and WAPHA has, to date, distributed more than 158,000 masks to general practices and pharmacies, following the Commonwealth Distribution Guidelines. The WA Department of Health have released Conservation of Personal Protective Equipment advice. Please refer to this in your use of PPE. WAPHA is doing everything it can to secure masks, both from the Australian Government Department of Health and other sources. To assist busy practices and to reduce the risk of community transmission of COVID-19, WAPHA is currently having these masks dispatched to your practice. For mask requests, visit the mask order form. Please note, re-orders will not be accepted within five business days (Mon-Fri) of the previous request, except in exceptional circumstances. Please send all general queries in relation to the National Medical Stockpile to Stockpile.Ops@health.gov.au. Practices can contact their WA Primary Health Liaison Officer or contact Practice Assist on 1800 227 747 or practiceassist@wapha.org.au for further assistance.
The Department of Health (Health) and Services Australia recognise that general practices, Aboriginal Medical Services and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations across Australia have been impacted by COVID-19 and are keen to support practices to ensure business continuity. Reminder to all practices to confirm your Quarterly Confirmation Statement to ensure you receive your incentive payment. Participating practices should have received (or will do so shortly if you’ve elected to receive a printed copy) their Workforce Incentive Program (WIP) – Practice Stream Quarterly Confirmation Statement (QCS) for the calculation month of May 2020. Due to the transition from the Practice Nurse Incentive Payment to the WIP – Practice Stream, automatic payments based on last quarter’s participation information will not be possible. Given this, practices continue to be required to review the information contained in their QCS and submit a response to Services Australia by 30 April 2020. This information is required to confirm your practice’s ongoing eligibility for the WIP - Practice Stream and ensure your payment is accurate. Practices can either:
If you are not able to do this through HPOS please refer to the alternative method outlined in your QCS. Whilst they recognise the impacts of COVID-19 on the day-to-day operations of general practices, it is important that all practices confirm their QCS details, to ensure that they receive their May 2020 quarterly incentive payment.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (the Commission) is maintaining the accreditation status for accreditation to the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Standards for general practices, effective immediately. This means that if a general practice holds accreditation as at 25 March 2020, this accreditation will be maintained during the response phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Practices that had a gap in accreditation before 25 March 2020 will need to contact their accrediting agency to submit an application for extension through the Commission. Further explanatory information is available at safetyandquality.gov.au or via the Advice Centre. Please email your query to accreditation@safetyandquality.gov.au and include your contact number. A member of the Advice Centre will then contact you as soon as practical.
Best Practice and Medical Director have released the April 2020 data updates which includes all 2020 influenza vaccines, including Fluad Quad®, which is the adjuvanted quadrivalent vaccine recommended for adults aged 65 years and over. It is important that practices update their software as soon as possible to ensure the accurate recording of the vaccine in the patients notes as well as on the Australian Immunisation Register. Best Practice: Practices do need to download this release by visiting the downloads section of the Best Practice website (scroll down to data updates) or following the link on the ‘elevate’ notice which was sent to all users via email on Monday 30 March 2020. Best Practice advised that it is a simple update and external IT support is not generally required to do the update. Further information: Best Practice or call 1300 401 111. Medical Director: Unless automatic updates have been set, practices need to download the data update by visiting the clinical update download page on the Medical Director website. Further information: Medical Director or call 1300 300 161. Zedmed have advised that their software update which includes the influenza vaccines for 2020 was released in late March 2020. This update includes Fluad Quad®, which is the adjuvanted quadrivalent vaccine recommended for adults aged 65 years and over. It is important that practices update their software as soon as possible to ensure the accurate recording of the vaccine in the patients notes as well as on the Australian Immunisation Register. Visit the help page on the Zedmed website for further information.
New information Primary care providers are now able to request COVID-19 testing, by referring the patient for the specimen to be collected at either:
The new SKAI resources support parents' influenza vaccination information needs, and guide them in their decisions to vaccinate. These resources are now available on the SKAI for Parents and SKAI for Providers websites.
WAPHA is aware that GPs across the state are experiencing shortages of the 2020 influenza vaccine. WA’s Communicable Disease Control Directorate (CDCD) believes that there may also be unused stock available within practices that can be redirected to those practices with no supply. WAPHA is seeking clarity from practices as to whether they do, in fact, have any excess supply of the influenza vaccine. If this is the case for your practice, please contact Practice Assist on 1800 227 747 or practiceassist@wapha.org.au. If you have any issues regarding supply of the vaccine that you would like WAPHA to raise with CDCD, please also contact Practice Assist.
The Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association ‘APNA’s’ Transition to Practice Program is a 12-month education, support and mentoring program for nurses new to primary health care. APNA are looking for:
Applications open from 20 April and close 5 June 2020. For more information regarding this program please visit the APNA Transition to Practice webpage. The Transition to Practice Program has been funded by the Australian Government Department of Health.
The Cancer Screening website has been updated to provide Healthcare Providers with guidance about managing cervical screening participants during the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Cervical Screening Program (the Program) is encouraging healthcare providers to continue to offer routine screening and follow up. The Program has developed overarching guidance to assist clinician decision-making on screening appointments including deferral and rescheduling, depending on individual patient circumstances. In addition, the Program has developed guidance for the management of patients requiring further investigation and treatment during the COVID-19. This guidance is supported by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Australian Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology. The Department of Health will continue to monitor COVID-19 impacts on the program, and provide any future updates on the Department of Health Cancer Screening website. Further queries can be sent to cancerscreening@health.gov.au.
The following content updates have now been published on the HealthPathways website:
The Australian Government have released the Management and Operational Plan for COVID-19 for People with Disability. The plan addresses factors such as the reliance on close contact with carers and support workers, having a compromised immune system, and the presence of multiple underlying health conditions. The plan is available to download here. Media Release: Protecting the lives of Australians with disability during coronavirus
Asthma WA have developed an information page for people with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, with fact sheets for individuals, as well as parents and carers. Asthma WA COVID-19 Asthma and COPD page
MyDESMOND Type 2 diabetes self-management resource now available online
All events are listed on our Webinars and Workshops page.