Open tender: Build capacity for suicide prevention in local communities

South Eastern Melbourne Primary Health Network (SEMPHN) is pleased to invite eligible organisations to tender for the establishment and delivery of a refugee, people seeking asylum and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) community Suicide Prevention Capacity Building Initiative (the Initiative) within the Southern Melbourne Area.  

The successful provider will be contracted from 15 January 2021, with activities from 1 February 2021 through to 30 June 2022. 

Upcoming key dates:

27 November: Closing date for questions in eProcure
4 December (3pm): Closing date for responses

All questions must be submitted via SEMPHN's eProcure. 
All tenders must be submitted via SEMPHN's eProcure.

Read the full article about this tender opportunity.

HeadtoHelp: a free service to manage stress and anxiety

HeadtoHelp is a new, free service option which can help you manage the number of patients who are experiencing stress and anxiety.

This week, you may have seen or heard the community awareness campaign for HeadtoHelp – the $27 million mental health service funded by the Federal Government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

If you have a patient who needs mental health support, you can refer them to HeadtoHelp Ph: 1800 595 212 Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5pm. Or, anyone can call or contact the hubs directly.

HeadtoHelp helps Victorians find the right mental health service for their needs and provide onsite support for those who need it, as well as via telehealth. There are 15 hubs in Victoria. In South Eastern Melbourne, the hubs are located in Frankston, Officer and Berwick.

The HeadtoHelp central intake is staffed by clinicians who use the Initial Assessment and Referral (IAR) decision support tool. People with level 1 and 2 needs will be connected with existing lower intensity services. Those with Level 3 and 4 needs may receive care at the hubs, either onsite or through telehealth, or other more suitable services. Level 5 will be connected to specialist or acute mental health services, including into emergency care or into an area mental health triage. Learn more here.

The hubs’ multidisciplinary teams of mental health workers, including psychologists, mental health nurses, social workers, and alcohol and drug workers, will coordinate with you - the patient’s regular GP – or help them find a regular GP if they do not have one.

Services are free of charge and a Medicare card or ID is not required.

ResetLife (Alcohol and Other Drugs treatment program) open for referrals

ResetLife is a free, intensive outpatient program for people who are seeking ongoing support to address their drug and alcohol issues.

The ResetLife program involves 16 weeks of structured, intensive outpatient treatment followed by 36 weeks of continuing care. 

Referrals

• Peninsula Health delivers the service in Frankston 
• FirstStep delivers the service in Port Phillip 
• TaskForce delivers ResetLife Youth From Moorabbin.

Call SEMPHN's Access & Referral team on 1800 862 363 (8.30 am - 4.30 pm Monday to Friday) to make a referral to the ResetLife program for adults. 

Please note: To refer to the ResetLife Youth program, contact Task Force on 9532 0811.

GPs in the Alfred Health catchment, access free psychiatrist secondary consultations

To support you in addressing the mental health of your patients, SEMPHN has partnered with Alfred Health to provide general practitioners in the Alfred Health catchment with free access to secondary consultations with an experienced psychiatrist.

Read the full article for more information. 

If you have any questions about this initiative, please contact our Access & Referral team Ph: 1800 862 363, 8.30am-4.30pm weekdays.

Spotlight: Last chance to register for this week's events

17 November (7 pm - 9 pm): The Long & Winding Road: Managing patients with both mental health issues and substance use disorder
General practitioners, practice nurses, practice managers, pharmacists, allied health

19 November (7 pm - 8 pm): Practice Nurse Webinar: Applying Compassionate Communication Skills
Practice nurses

19 November (7.30 am): Introducing Cranbourne Community Hospital
General practitioners

Access 200+ local, clinical and referral pathways at your fingertips - no login required!

Did you know that SEMPHN has over 200 local health care pathways available on the SEMPHN website?

Our Pathways page hosts pathways across a number of health topics. 

Pathways are available for:

• Statewide Referral Criteria for 11 specialist clinics
• Optimal (Cancer) Care Pathways for 15 types of cancer

• Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) pathways 

• Sexually Transmitted Infections, including HIV

• Pathway for COVID positive patients

For a quick overview of all the current pathways, click here. 

Need help navigating our pathways pages? Get in touch with one of SEMPHN's Provider Support Officers by emailing providersupport@semphn.org.au.

Hospital-based immunisation services for people with complex issues

Hospital-based immunisation services provide children and adults with complex problems access to immunisation specialist paediatricians, ID physicians, nurse practitioners and nurse immunisers.

A child or adult should be referred to the services if they:

• Have previously experienced an adverse event following immunisation
• Are at risk of an adverse event following immunisation
• Have underlying complex medical health problems (includes oncology, transplant, immune suppression, allergy)
• require observation following immunisation
• have immunisation needs unable to be met within a community setting such as Vaccine hesitancy, travel.

Hospital immunisation hotline - 1300 882 924 and choose

Option 1: AEFI-CAN (SAFEVIC), the Victorian vaccine safety service
Option 2: The Royal Children’s Hospital immunisation service
Option 3: BCG vaccines for children.
Option 4: Monash Immunisation Service. 

Read more: Victoria AEFI-CAN (formally know as SAFEVIC)

December 7: All day virtual immunisation event

Melbourne Vaccine Education Centre (MVEC) is hosting an all-day, virtual immunisation event including both local and international presenters.

Topics include:

• COVID-19 vaccine safety after licensure – COVID-19 adverse events of special interest and adverse events following immunisation
• COVID-19 vaccine safety communication
• COVID-19 vaccines update
• Vaccine communication and confidence – a consumer focus
• The vulnerable young people catch-up vaccination project
• Influenza and influenza vaccine update
• Pharmacists and immunisation
• Measles update and experience from recent outbreaks
• Zoster vaccine update and errors

When: Monday, 7 December at 9 am – 3 pm
Cost: $80
View the program: click here 
Purchase tickets: click here 

New webinar series coming November: Blood borne viruses and STIs

Join your peers in this lunch time webinar series on 24, 25 and 26 November to learn more about Sexually transmissible infections (STIs) and blood-borne viruses (BBVs). Each webinar will take place from 1 pm - 2.30 pm.  

Presenters:

• Dr Hung The Nguyen (General Practitioner, Medical and Cultural Educator in Dandenong)
• Jennifer MacLachlan (Epidemiologist of Doherty Institute),
• Garry Sattell (Cultural safety educator)
• HEPSpeaker and health promotion officer (People with lived experience and inclusive practice, Hepatitis Victoria)

This series is accredited by ACCRM and RACGP and 1xs100 HBV points. Note: Participants must attend Webinars 1 + 2 or Webinars 1 + 3 to qualify for points. 

Register here. 

New Veteran Cards for accessing healthcare

The Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) Provider News has published an article, DVA clients’ new-look Veteran Cards to access healthcare.

DVA Gold, White and Orange health cards have been replaced with Veteran Cards. The Veteran Cards (Gold, White or Orange) have been issued to all DVA cardholders.

You can expect to see DVA clients present a new Veteran Card to access their health treatments and services and can accept the card to cover veterans’ healthcare.