Happy festive season!

This is our last edition of Network News for 2020, but we will be back in the new year.

The next edition of Network News in 2021 will come straight to your inbox on 11 January.

Please note, SEMPHN will be closed from 2 pm, Thursday 24 December 2020 and will reopen on 8.30 am Monday 4 January 2021. 

Thank you ALL for working with us during all the challenges and opportunities of 2020. 

Best wishes for a relaxing new year!

Last PPE requests for 2020

If you need to request PPE from SEMPHN please do so before 7 am Monday 21 December (for delivery Tuesday 22nd).

The next PPE delivery after this will Tuesday 5 January (please request by 7 am Monday 4 January).

SEMPHN PPE online orders

SEMPHN PPE stock can still be ordered online. All relevant links can be found on the SEMPHN COVID webpage.

Please note the guidelines, stock available, and use the relevant link. 

• General Practices and ACCHOs which are not testing for COVID-19, use this link General Practice/ACCHO PPE
• General Practices and ACCHOs which are testing for COVID-19, use this link COVID testing General Practice/ACCHO
• Community Pharmacies, use this link Pharmacy masks request
• Nurse Practitioner-led and Allied Health Practices use this link Nurse Practitioner Allied Health PPE request.

New Suicide Prevention Service in Casey and Dandenong

SEMPHN has commissioned Better Place Australia to deliver The Way Back Support Service to individuals who have been discharged from Casey and Dandenong Hospital’s emergency department following a suicide attempt or crisis. 

The service model, designed by Beyond Blue, assigns individuals to a Support Coordinator upon discharge to help guide them through their recovery.

Support Coordinators provide psycho-social support such as helping build a personalised safety plan and linking them to health and community services, complementary to the clinical care provided by Monash Health.

For more information click here. 

​Referrals open for free alcohol and other drug treatment program

ResetLife is a free, intensive outpatient Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) treatment program, based on the Matrix Treatment Model, for people who live or work in south eastern Melbourne.

ResetLife is an alternative treatment to residential rehabilitation. It involves 16 weeks of structured, intensive outpatient treatment, followed by 36 weeks of continuing care. So, people can stay connected in their community while accessing intensive treatment.

• Peninsula Health delivers ResetLife (adults) in Frankston.
• FirstStep delivers ResetLife (adults) in Port Phillip.
• TaskForce delivers ResetLife Youth in Moorabbin.

How to refer

For ResetLife (adult) call SEMPHN's Access & Referral team on 1800 862 363.

For ResetLife Youth, contact TaskForce directly on 
9532 0811.

Australian Immunisation Register Amendment (Reporting) Bill 2020

The Australian Immunisation Register Amendment (Reporting) Bill 2020, which makes it mandatory for vaccination providers to report vaccines that have been administered to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR), entered parliament last week. This Bill is an amendment to the existing Australian Immunisation Register Act 2015.

“…The need for the Australian Immunisation Register Amendment (Reporting) Bill 2020 arose from the need to provide more Australians with information about their immunisation history, to support the roll out of a COVID-19 vaccine and the ongoing administration of the NIP.

Australia continues to have a high level of vaccination reporting and the AIR data entered is sufficiently reliable for the administration of childhood immunisations due to a number of policy and program settings which encourage reporting…”

Read the full report here

Preparing for potential COVID-19 outbreaks

Thank you to the 40+ people who attended our webinar yesterday.

Representatives from SEMPHN, The Alfred and Monash Health spoke about their respective roles in the case of an outbreak.

If you missed it, you can view the recording here, access passcode: 6^4#!Qyd

Don't forget, we have a new webpage COVID-19 - General Practice Planning for potential outbreaks, including a handy Summer Planning Checklist.

16 December: First steps to planning for the COVID vaccine

It's time to prepare for the rollout of the COVID vaccine (whenever that may be). This means reviewing and updating current immunisation systems, policies and procedures within your practice.

Topics to covered

• Australian Government COVID vaccine policy - at this point in time
• Vaccine Management - cold chain  
• Notifying the Australian Immunisation Register.

This webinar is suitable for anyone involved in immunisation.

When: 16 December, 7 pm - 8 pm
Where: Online
Cost: Free
Register here.

Webinar: Keeping the focus on healthcare worker wellbeing

COVID-19 has been a challenging year that has impacted us all in some way - no matter where we work in health care.

Safer Care Victoria invites clinical and non-clinical healthcare workers in health services, community health, aged and primary care to attend a special webinar on how to protect your workforce as they adjust to the new normal.

Date: 18 December 2020
Time: 10.30am – 11.30am
Register here.

More information: Email kerrie.walter@safercare.vic.gov.au

Chasing Change’s Blue Christmas event (20 December)

With the events of this year making connection and support more difficult than usual, Chasing Change is proud to provide the community with an event that acknowledges the pain experienced by those missing loved ones this Christmas to demonstrate how supported they are by their community.

Chasing Change will be hosting their annual Blue Christmas event again this year on Sunday 20 December in Beauty Park, Frankston.

The Blue Christmas event brings together people who may be finding this time of the year difficult by providing a safe, solemn, and supportive space for community members to reflect, reminisce and grieve. The event will offer gentle and calming live music whilst also hearing from lived experience speakers at a time of remembrance, comfort and hope.

It’s free to attend, however registration is required due to outdoor gathering restrictions.

Date: 20 December 2020
Time: 8.30pm
Location: Beauty Park, Frankston
Register here. 

More info visit: https://www.facebook.com/Chasingchangespn/

GP turns to video consultations

Has your general practice started using Healthdirect's VideoCall for telehealth consultations?

Healthdirect VideoCall is a comprehensive, secure and reliable video consulting service purpose-built for use in primary care settings in Australia.

One local GP shares his experience with VideoCall in this two-page article.

SEMPHN can set your practice up with Healthdirect’s VideoCall, at no cost during the COVID-19 response. It is a video consultation program specifically designed for health care, with many useful features including:

• easy to use – nothing to install – it uses your web browser on your PC, laptop, tablet (iPad) or smartphone
•  mimics your usual workflow
• healthcare level security
• aged care staff can connect on a smartphone or tablet from a link you send to them and facilitate the consultation with the patient

We will setup VideoCall and provide you with step by step training to get you started as well as ongoing support. 

Contact our Digital Health team by emailing digitalhealth@semphn.org.au or calling the team on 03 8514 4460.

Fitness to drive assessments 

The new Online Medical Report is available via the VicRoads website, making it easier to manage patients with medical conditions or disabilities that may affect their fitness to drive, and ensuring they receive their VicRoads Medical Review decision faster.

• The secure smart form steps through the required fields and links to the Assessing Fitness to Drive standards
• Reports can be submitted directly online
• A reference number is generated, supporting patients’ reporting obligations
• Reports can be printed and saved as PDFs.
• Your personal home page can save incomplete reports and access previously submitted reports for two years.

VicRoads letters requesting a fitness to drive assessment will include a link to the new form and identifiers (Licence No. and Case No.) to pre-populate some patient details.

Find out more - watch this short video and go to VicRoads’ website www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/medicalreport