Professional development opportunities and events read more

SMS self-care system 'Nellie' lifts-off
The event last Tuesday gathered keen interest read more

Important update: National Cervical Screening Program
The renewed program is here, with self-collection option to come later read more

Colonoscopy Clinical Care Standard: consultation open
Please provide comment by 29 December read more

Come to the last Practice Networks of the year
The last topic for 2017 is the 5th Edition Standards read more

Thank you Bayside Medical Group!
Staff at the practice have donated 14 New Day Boxes read more

Do you have clients/patients in Frankston Mornington Peninsula who have a lived experience of suicide?
Free training is available 8-9 December in Mornington read more

How well do you understand the My Health Record expansion?
Please take 5-10 minutes to help inform education and support read more

Webinar: My Health Record: What's in it and how do I view and upload?
This is the third in the series read more

Heavy Menstrual Bleeding Clinical Care Standard
The Standard and accompanying resources are now available read more

Biannual Frankston Forum: Best approaches to sensitive clinic visits
There's still time to register for this 6 December event read more

Multi-lingual resources about family violence
Health Translations has new fact sheets read more

Sessional pharmacotherapy-focused clinic in Rosebud 
GPs, are you interested in providing pharmacotherapy? read more

Peninsula Health paediatric clinic expansion
There are new free paediatric outpatient services available read more

It was all ears last Tuesday night with around 70 GPs, care coordinators and managers coming together to hear about Nellie for the first time.

Nellie's a groundbreaking methodology and SMS-based system for promoting patient self-care. She hails from the UK, where her older cousin Florence has improved the lives of tens of thousands of patients (and made life easier for clinicians as well).

Last year, SEMPHN partnered with the Florence team to develop an improved version of the system, and Nellie is now ready to be used in the catchment.

Nellie's inventor, Phil O'Connell (pictured below, at right), flew from the UK to present at the event. A live demonstration of the system had an audience member quickly and easily signing up to Nellie, then sending blood pressure readings that Phil displayed in a graph.

Dr Geoff Campbell, a clinical lead for Nellie, presented a case study showing how Nellie had saved him time and the reduced patient stress.

Nellie is first being offered to practices involved in chronic disease management (including Health Care Homes), but SEMPHN will broaden the scope as soon as possible.

For more information email nellie@semphn.org.au or call the SEMPHN digital health team on 8514 4460.

(above, L to R) SEMPHN Chair Graeme Samuel with Nellie inventor Phil O'Connell

(below) Attendees tune into how Nellie works

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The renewed National Cervical Screening Program is now in place (from 1 December 2017).

However, healthcare providers who do cervical screening tests are advised not to offer self-collection to eligible women until further notice. 

The introduction of self-collected samples for HPV testing is one component of the renewed National Cervical Screening Program.

The self-collection option has been included in the program to encourage women who are over 30 and have never had a screening test, or who have declined a clinician collected sample and are overdue for testing by at least two years, to participate in cervical screening.  
 
However, self-collection can only be implemented when the laboratory and platform testing processes and equipment attain the various accreditation requirements. This process is still underway.  Laboratories are not yet accredited to perform the test and therefore the test is not claimable against the MBS.
 
For more information visit here.

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The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (the Commission) has developed a draft Colonoscopy Clinical Care Standard in collaboration with the Australian Government, state and territory governments, patients and carers, clinicians, researchers and health organisations.

Consultation on the draft Colonoscopy Clinical Care Standard and associated resources is now open until 29 December.

Access the Colonoscopy Clinical Care Standard and online survey here.

For more information, please email ccs@safetyandquality.gov.au or call the Commission on (02) 9126 3600.

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Are you a practice manager or practice nurse?

Come and join your colleagues for the last Practice Networks this year, where the Standards for General Practice (5th Edition) will be discussed.

• St Kilda: 7 December - St Kilda Town Hall, 6pm – 7.30pm
• Frankston: 14 December - Cube 37, Frankston 6pm – 7.30pm

Cost: Free. Sandwiches and coffee provided.

Please see the flyer for details and registration.

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Big thanks to Bayside Medical Group whose staff donated 14 New Day Boxes for women in crisis.

This is a wonderful addition to our growing collection at SEMPHN. This week, SEMPHN staff will pack all the boxes, ready for distribution.

It's great to see the generosity of general practices in our region.

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Roses in the Ocean is offering SEMPHN-funded training for people with a lived experience of suicide who live in the Frankston Mornington Peninsula region.

The training, called 'Our Voice', is on December 8 and 9 in Mornington and is free of charge for participants (spaces strictly limited) .

Lived experience of suicide can be:

• having experienced suicidal thoughts
• having survived a suicide attempt
• supporting someone who has been suicidal, or been bereaved by suicide.

The capacity building program is designed to help people understand the role that lived experience can have in helping to reduce the rates of suicide and its impact in a local community.

Clients need to read the document 'Am I ready' and then submit an Expression of Interest.

A member of ‘Roses in the Ocean’ will then call the person to discuss and answer any questions.

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The Federal Government's expansion of My Health Record aims to have a record for every Australian by December 2018. 

This will be achieved by moving to an opt –out model where a record will be created for every Australian who does not already have one. 

In order to inform the education, training and support for the expansion, the Australian Digital Health Agency would like to hear from General Practitioners and Pharmacists about their understanding of the My Health Record system and the opt-out participation arrangements.

Please take 5-10 minutes to complete the My Health Record Program Survey by 15 December.

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This is the third in a series of webinars hosted by the Australian Digital Health Agency over the coming months to help healthcare providers build confidence and familiarise themselves with using the My Health Record system.

This is also in preparation for the national move to the opt-out participation model, when all Australians will be assigned a My Health Record by December 2018.

This webinar will outline the types of information that are typically found in a My Health Record, as well as how to view and upload information. It will also be useful for healthcare providers who are connected to the system and ready to start engaging with it.

Date: 7 December 2017
Time: 5:00-6:00PM (AEDT)

More information and registration

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Heavy menstrual bleeding affects about one in four women of childbearing age and has a significant impact on their social, emotional and physical wellbeing.

The Heavy Menstrual Bleeding Clinical Care Standard and resources for clinicians, health services and consumers are now online and include:

• Consumer fact sheet
• Clinician fact sheet
• Links to indicator specifications and national reference data for hysterectomy.

The evidence supporting the standard and a report on the consultation findings are also available.

The standard has been endorsed by 18 key professional associations and women’s health organisations.

For more information please email ccs@safetyandquality.gov.au.

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Join Area 4 Pharmacotherapy Network on 6 December for patient engagement tips and an in-depth look at challenging topics:

• Codeine seeking behaviour
• Sexual health and STI management
• Alcohol and drug use in pregnancy.

The forum will help with identifying the tools and treatments available for common STIs, developing methods for engaging patients seeking codeine and provide appropriate management and treatment.

The forum will also explain key issues that can occur with the use of drugs and alcohol in pregnancy and develop strategies for optimising care for the patient and baby.

This activity has been approved by the RACGP QI&CPD Program Activity ID: 115943. Total Points: 4 Category 2 points.

Register here or for further information contact Jacqueline Apostolopoulos.

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Health Translations, managed by the Centre for Culture, Ethnicity and Health, has published multi-lingual resources about family violence. Find them here.

The online directory enables health practitioners and people  working with culturally and linguistically diverse communities to easily find translated health information.

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Peninsula Health is seeking expressions of interest from general practitioners to provide a sessional pharmacotherapy service at a clinic within Rosebud Community Health.

The sessional GP clinic will operate 2-3 times per week to provide pharmacotherapy, general practice medicine and chronic disease management to the catchment's vulnerable populations.

Support for GPs will be provided by the Peninsula Health Community Care physician and pharmacotherapy support nurses.

Clinical support will also be made available via two GP mentors who are highly experienced in the field of opioid substitution therapy.

The Area 4 Pharmacotherapy Network will also provide GP small group learnings (facilitated by the GP mentors) about AOD, mainly around case presentations, discussion of clinical problems and best practice guidelines.

For more information and the EOI form, please contact Renée Blight, Project Coordinator, Peninsula Health Community Health on ph: 0448 538 428 or rblight@phcn.vic.gov.au.

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Peninsula Health now provides free Paediatric Outpatient Services at the Frankston, Rosebud and Hastings sites for:

• Paediatric Medicine
• Continence
• Dermatology
• Development and Behaviour
• Diabetes
• Endocrine
• Gastroenterology
• Paediatric/Adolescent Gynaecology

There are also outreach clinics at four schools:

• Mornington Park Primary School
• Rosebud Primary School
• Hastings Primary School
• Mahogany Rise Primary School

More information

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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

6 Dec		The Implications of Codeine Rescheduling GPs Webinar Details and registration
6 Dec		Biannual Frankston Forum : Best approaches to sensitive clinic visits Allied Health Professional, GPs, Practice Nurse, Pharmacist, Practice Administration, Practice Manager Frankston Details and registration
7 Dec		Codeine rescheduling & its impact on the treatment of opioid dependence GPs Richmond Details and registration
7 Dec		St Kilda Practice Networks Practice Nurse, Practice Managers St Kilda Details and registration
14 Dec		Frankston Practice Networks Practice Nurse, Practice Managers Frankston Details and registration

For more information about events contact Stephenie Cook ph: (03) 8514 6609 or events@semphn.org.au

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