No 34: October 11, 2007
eNews is a weekly electronic newsletter sent to all GP practices
(with email addresses) within the
Aged Care Have you had your plumbing checked?
Professional Development CPD events
Immunisation GP HPV Vaccine Program, HPV Register, Rotavirus Reminders, Updated DHS Vaccine Order Form
Information
Management includes Medical Director tips and New on the
Web
Items of
interest Translation
Services, New Austin Hospital After Hours GP Clinic, GP Network News, Grand
Round Guest Speakers
Mental Health Managing
Men at Risk, Allied Health Professional working with patients suffering from
eating disorders
News for
Practice Staff Invitation to
upcoming events
Paediatrics New Paediatric Clinical Practice Guidelines
Women’s Health Premature Menopause – who, when and how long to treat
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Free Community Forum Presented by Austin Health Aged Care Services. Tuesday
16 October, 10:30am – 2:00pm at
Topics: Changes to the urinary tract with age; Management of bladder and Incontinence; Pelvic muscle exercises; Alternate therapies
RSVP by Tuesday 9th October to 9496 2185. Refreshments provided.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meetings are held each Tuesday starting at 12.30 in the
Lecture Theatre, Ground Floor, Pathology Building, Repatriation Hospital,
Austin Health, West Heidelberg. Lunch is provided. Course Leader: Dr Vin Nursey
Phone: 9457 1736
No lecture next week – lecture theatre unavailable
For full term Tuesday lecture program click here
Thursday
18 October, 8.15-9am Lecture Theatre, Dept of Surgery, 8th
Floor,
This week’s topic - “Predicting Disease from Retinal Changes” - Prof T Wong, Professor of Ophthalmology, Director – Retinal Vascular Imaging Centre – University of Melbourne & Deputy Head - Centre for Eye Research Australia.
For full years program click here
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There has been a new up to date fact sheet loaded on the NCIRS fact sheet web page presenting questions and answers relevant to the HPV vaccine. This new sheet provides many answers for both providers and women who have queries about the HPV immunisation program. Visit http://www.ncirs.usyd.edu.au/facts/hpv_faq.pdf
The following has been repeated from the previous newsletter for your information. The policy regarding completion of vaccination courses after a woman has turned 27 years old has recently been reviewed and clarified. A woman who commences vaccination with HPV vaccine before she turns 27 years is eligible to receive free HPV vaccine to complete the course.
The Bill to allow the development of the HPV Register has been debated and passed so is now the law governing the proposed HPV Register. The various processes are now in train to design and develop the register and have it operational as soon as possible. Until this register is operational, we still need to continue to encourage all practices to collect HPV data and hold it for future lodgement with the register. As well as consent for the procedure for the HPV immunisation, providers also need to gain consent from their patients for the lodgement of this data with the proposed register. How you can collect the HPV Data & submit it when the register is operational can be found at http://www.adgp.com.au/site/index.cfm?display=1813#Register
The rotavirus program began on 1 July this year very quietly without the usual flow of information and publicity. The HPV program seemed to be so overbearing that rotavirus was left in the shadows. However, the information provided via divisions, this newsletter and the appropriate web pages has helped many providers get up to speed with this new vaccine. There are 2 vaccines available, both oral and both to be administered in a very short time frame and with restricted time lines. Recently there was some confusion in border areas concerning the process for changing brands of vaccines before completion of the course. The relevant up to date information on this can be found here on pages 19, 20 and 21. Other relevant information can be found at the NCIRS fact sheet website;
There is an updated vaccine order form for use from now on. The form now contains, at the top of the page, the following statement regarding cold chain:-
In order to receive Government funded vaccines, I agree that this centre complies with the recommended vaccine cold chain storage of 2º-8ºC as stated in the National Vaccine Storage Guideline, Strive for 5: www.immunise.health.gov.au
Signature of authorised person: Print name:
This new form is available on the DHS web site at: http://www.health.vic.gov.au/immunisation/general/forms
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Medical Director Tip - Quick way of entering vaccine name
Click on the Immunisation tab and when the Vaccination Window opens press the Tab key twice (to skip over “Vaccinator” and “Date” fields) to land on the “Type” field. Press the first one or two letters of the vaccine (e.g. “GA” for Gardasil) and then tap the down arrow key and you will be taken to that vaccine. Tap the down arrow key again if you need to scroll further down the list. Press the Tab key to jump to the next field.
Question: Can I print more than one patient’s script at a time?
Answer: Yes you can and this is known as batch printing. It is particularly useful when you have a heap of scripts to write for an aged care facility.
Open a patient’s record and prepare a script. Press <F2> to close the previous patient’s record and select a new patient. You will be presented with a prompt to Print Now, Print Later or Discard. Select Print later. Continue to work your way through the scripts for each patient, remembering that when closing each patient record make sure that you select the Print later option. Once finished all the scripts close all patient records by clicking on the Close this patient’s record button – if prompted to add to the patient’s Progress Notes click on the No button. From the Tools menu select Batch print. Click on the Filter button and select the scripts to be printer by Doctor and Date. This ensures that only those scripts that you wish to print will be printed. Click on the Print button and all the unprinted scripts will now be printed. While this is happening go and do something more useful than watching a printer churn out the scripts.
Courses for Nurses and Practice Staff - A team approach to triage (Thursday 25th October 2007) and Preparing for a pandemic – the General Practice Role (Thursday 1st November 2007) – Found under CPD Calendar of Events
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS) National provides a 24 hour a day, seven days a week telephone interpreting service to all states and territories in Australia. It provides services in over 120 languages and dialects. The Department if Immigration and Citizenship, through (TIS), provides a fee-free interpreting service to Doctors and Specialists if they are in private practice providing services, claimable under Medicare, to patients who do not speak English and are permanent residents. TIS National has established priority telephone lines for emergency service organisations and medical practitioners in general practice. When contacted, these lines assume priority within the Call-Centre queue. Call TIS National on 131 450 for the cost of a local call, Doctor's Priority Line Telephone: 1300 131 450. For more information visit the here
With the aim of reducing emergency waiting time - Austin Health is currently recruiting GPs to work in this NEW fully staffed (manager/nurse/receptionist) and computerised (Medical Director) clinic. The planned opening hours for the clinic are 7pm to 11pm Monday to Friday, 2pm to 10pm on Saturdays and 10am to 10pm on Sundays and public holidays. It is hoped that the commencement date for the new service will be in late October, early November. This type of clinic may provide extra flexibility for GPs seeking to work outside the usual hours of 9 to 5, such as those with young families.
If you are a GP and would like to enquire about the detailed terms and conditions of employment at the after-hours GP clinic at Austin Health, please call Jillian Macloy on 9496 5652 or email Jillian.Macloy@austin.org.au
This edition contains the call by medical bodies for rescue action on rural doctor crisis. Full version.
Any suggestions would be appreciated for suitable guest speakers for the
Division of Medicine Grand Rounds in 2008, either from
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Discussion evening and beyondblue study on Wednesday 14th November 6.30- 9.30pm
GPs are invited to participate in the beyondblue VCOE funded Reducing Suicide in Men through General Practice (SIM) training and study which is being held at Melbourne Division of General Practice on Wednesday 14th November from 6.30pm. Participants attend the training evening and, as part of the evaluation, participate in two confidential videotaped simulated 20 minute consultations held at their practices at a time that suits before and after training. Participating GPs receive a free copy of the new book “General Practice Psychiatry”, a $200 Coles Myer voucher for the practice visit time, and a copy of the interactive CD Rom “Men at Risk” developed by Victorian Crisis Support Services which includes risk assessment templates for your computer.
For more information or to register: contact Rodney Mackintosh, Manager - Health Programs, Melbourne Division of General Practice on (03) 9347 1188
Claire Diffey Family Therapist, Psychiatric Nurse. Clinical Member VAFT (Victorian Association of Family Therapists) RPN.
Practice is co-located with Camberwell Chiropractic Centre,
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Session 1: A team approach to triage
-Thursday 25th October 2007 6.30pm
for a 7pm start
Receptionists, in partnership with nurses and GPs, play a very important role in the initial contact with patients seeking an appointment when there are none available. This session will enable both receptionist and nurses to identify the important factors in making an informed assessment of the patient’s needs. Effective triage requires a ‘whole of practice’ approach with agreed practice procedures which reflect sound practice policy.
Session 2: Preparing for a pandemic –
the General Practice Role - Thursday 1st
November 2007 6.30pm for a 7pm start
This session will outline the areas of prevention, detection and containment role of general practice in an influenza pandemic. This session builds on knowledge gained from the first session. On completion of this workshop participants will be able to:
· Outline a pandemic plan for your practice
· Identify the infection control strategies necessary for use in a pandemic
· Use Personal Protection Equipment
Both of these sessions offer a combined forum for the practice nurse and
frontline staff. This will provide
background theory and relevance to daily practice. The sessions will be
interactive and will use scenarios to demonstrate understanding of a whole of
practice approach to triage and pandemic preparedness. Venue: Pathology Lecture Theatre,
Click here for registration form.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The RCH online library of Clinical Practice Guidelines has been updated to include Acute facial weakness (Bell's Palsy), Illness in the returned traveler and Immigrant Health. To see all the guidelines please visit: www.rch.org.au/clinicalguide. We hope you find the guidelines useful. You might also like to look at our list of other free clinical resources at: www.rch.org.au/genmed/clinical.cfm?doc_id=10999
Kids Connect www.rch.org.au/kidsconnect
Kids Health Info www.rch.org.au/kidsinfo
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The
Jean Hailes Foundation for Women’s Health final videoconference for the year on: Tuesday 23 October 2007 6.30-8.30pm
(EST). Attend in person at the RACP Melbourne or via videoconference. How to
attend or view see www.jeanhailes.org.au/content/view/358/506/
Call Kellie Armstrong on 9562 6771 for more
info.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heidelberg clinic - needs a Locum Doctor for various times of the year. Please call 0401 032 678.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
A linguistics professor was lecturing to his class:
"In English," he said, "a double negative forms a positive. In
some languages, though, such as Russian, a double negative is still a negative.
However," he continued, "there is no language wherein a double
positive can form a negative."
A medical student doing an elective, from the back of the room piped up,
"Yeah. Right."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------