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Monday 6  February

In this edition

SEMPHN has a new website!
Today we are launching a new website with some great features read more

Frankston headspace visited by new Health Minister
Greg Hunt MP heard about activities to support young people with severe mental health issues read more

Please take 5 minutes to update your details
Complete this short form to update your organisation details read more

New patient decision aids for antibiotic use
Sore throat, acute bronchitis and middle ear infections now have decision aids available read more

Comment on the reviewed codes of conduct for nurses and midwives 
Have a say on the Codes read more

Bowel cancer awareness month
Check out the 'Don't wait until it's too late' campaign read more

SEMPHN community council member performs smoking ceremony at Bourke St memorial
A smoking ceremony last week was done to cleanse and heal the area read more

Australian Nursing & Midwifery Awards - nominations open
Do you know a nurse or midwife with a story worth celebrating? read more

GPs - finding curable hypertension
GPs in the Monash Health catchment are invited to participate read more

Carer retreats coming up
Do you have patients or clients who are carers and need a break? read more

Professional development opportunities and events read more

SEMPHN has a new website!

We are excited to be launching our new website today.

The much-anticipated site has some great features including:

  • quick links
  • entry points for General Practice, Health Professionals and Community, so you can quickly find things relevant to you
  • extra resources and up-to-date content
  • an easy-to-use events calendar and listing 
  • topic-based commissioning and funding opportunity information
  • a local primary health jobs board, where you can list vacancies at your practice
  • search tags, so you can find easily find relevant information.

Check it out here www.semphn.org.au later today.

Tip: If you have some pages bookmarked, you'll need to find those pages on the new site, and save them as new bookmarks. Use the big search bar (top right of screen) to find things easily.

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Frankston headspace visited by new Health Minister Greg Hunt and Federal Member for Dunkley Chris Crewther

New Health Minister Greg Hunt and Federal Member for Dunkley Chris Crewther visited Frankston headspace last week to hear about activities to support young people with severe mental health issues.

SEMPHN is one of 10 PHNs across the country chosen to be a mental health lead site, focusing on severe mental illness in young people. This is part of a Federal Government package to champion mental health reforms, which will involve establishing regional service pathways, demonstrating models of stepped care and exploring the use of digital technology.

SEMPHN will be investigating models of care for young people with severe mental illness, including innovative ways to target a broader range of youth with, or at risk of, severe mental illness.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said this would improve mental healthcare for young people and their families living in Frankston and on the Mornington Peninsula. 

“Mental Health is an issue that is very close to my heart and as Health Minister I want to be a strong advocate for greater understanding and community awareness, and to ensure we have the necessary resources to help deal with this very important issue.” 

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Please take 5 minutes to update your details

SEMPHN is doing a comprehensive after-hours needs assessment in the coming weeks.

With this in mind, we need accurate, up-to-date information from health care providers across our catchment. 

This will help us continue to understand the nature and capacity of primary health services across the catchment, and plan and implement services accordingly.

To make sure your details are current, please complete this short online form by 13 February.

If you have any questions please contact Chris Wood, General Manager, System Outcomes at SEMPHN.

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New patient decision aids for antibiotic use

The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care has produced three patient decision aids on antibiotic use for sore throat, acute bronchitis and middle ear infection in children in primary care:

The patient decision aids are designed to be used by clinicians with patients in the clinical consultation to help patients be partners in their own care.

About patient decision aids

Patient decision aids are tools that provide high quality, synthesised information about particular conditions. They can help patients and clinicians compare the risks and benefits of treatment options, clarify what matters most to the patient and make a shared decision about what is the best option for the individual.

Using a patient decision aid can be particularly helpful when there is more than one reasonable treatment option, when no option has a clear advantage in terms of health outcomes, or when each option has benefits and harms that patients may value differently.

Current research on patient decision aids shows that when patients use decision aids they:

  • improve their knowledge of the options
  • feel clearer about what matters most to them
  • have more accurate expectations of possible benefits and harms of their options
  • participate more in decision making.

For more information visit here.

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Comment on the reviewed codes of conduct for nurses and midwives

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) sets the national standards, codes and guidelines that nurses and midwives must meet to be registered in Australia.

The NMBA Code of conduct for nurses and Code of conduct for midwives (the Codes) has been reviewed and feedback is now invited on the draft Codes here

The Codes are important for the professions, the healthcare system and the public.

The Codes set out the legal requirements, professional behaviour and conduct expectations for nurses and midwives in all practice settings in Australia. The Codes describe the principles of professional behaviour that guide safe practice and clearly outline the conduct expected of nurses and midwives by their colleagues and the broader community.

Your feedback will help the NMBA to make sure the Codes are clear and easy to understand, and that they accurately capture the conduct required of nurses and midwives.

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Bowel cancer awareness month

Bowel cancer is Australia’s second highest cause of cancer-related deaths. It affects men and women, young and old. But, when detected early, 9 in 10 cases can be treated successfully.

This February, Bowel Cancer Australia is reminding Australians that timing can be everything with its ‘Don’t wait until it’s too late’ campaign.

You can visit stopbowelcancer.org to order free awareness packs and start a conversation that could save someone’s life. You can also order free patient resources for your practice here.

About bowel cancer

Bowel cancer can often develop without any warnings signs, but here are some signs or symptoms that something might be wrong:

  • A persistent change in bowel habit, especially going to the toilet more often or having looser, more diarrhoea-like movements for several weeks
  • Blood in the bowel movement or rectal bleeding
  • A change in appearance of bowel movements
  • Unexplained anaemia causing tiredness or weight loss
  • A lump or swelling in your abdomen.

Visit the Bowel Cancer Australia website for helpful resources about prevention and early detection, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment options and tools for living with and beyond bowel cancer.

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SEMPHN Community Council member performs smoking ceremony at Bourke St memorial

Wurundjeri Elder and SEMPHN Community Council member, Aunty Dianne Kerr, performed a smoking ceremony at the Bourke St memorial before tributes were moved last week.

Aunty Di said the ceremony helped to cleanse and heal the area. It also ensured that tributes were taken on a safe journey.

Practice staff are reminded that supports are available for people affected by the incident in any way. Please refer to our previous communication about the Bourke St incident.

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Australian Nursing & Midwifery Awards - nominations open

Do you know a nurse or midwife with a story worth celebrating?

Nominate them for the 2017 HESTA Australian Nursing and Midwifery Awards.

The award recognises professionalism, innovation, and care. There are three categories for nominations: Nurse or Midwife of the Year, Outstanding Graduate, and Team Excellence.

Winners share a $30,000 prize pool and all finalists receive a flight and accommodation to attend the awards dinner.

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GPs – finding curable hypertension

General Practices in the Monash Health catchment are invited to participate in a project to evaluate the prevalence of a common cause of hypertension – primary aldosteronism (PA), or Conn’s Syndrome. 

PA causes refractory hypertension, which responds poorly to conventional antihypertensive drugs; along with adverse cardiovascular outcomes including atrial fibrillation, heart attacks and strokes. PA is easily treatable with spironolactone or eplerenone, and may even be cured with surgery. An early diagnosis can be life-changing for affected patients. 

PA accounts for 5 – 10% of hypertension, but it is diagnosed in less than one percent of hypertensive patients in Australia. 

This study will evaluate the true prevalence of PA in our community, help GPs identify a curable cause of hypertension, and make a timely diagnosis for many patients.

Please contact Dr Jun Yang (Endocrinologist, Monash Health; Senior Research Officer, Hudson Institute of Medical Research) at jun.yang@hudson.org.au to receive further information about the study.

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Carer retreats coming up

Do you have patients or clients who are carers and need a break?

Alfred Health Carer Services is offering the following retreats:

  • A retreat for working carers of a frail aged person or a person living with dementia. The retreat is in Hepburn Springs from 17-19 March. Call Marina Doyle on 8781 3402 to express interest.
  • A weekend retreat for people with Younger Onset Dementia (YOD) and their family carers. Families with a person aged under 65 with a dementia diagnosis are invited to participate. The retreat is in Phillip Island from 17-19 March. Call Greg Pratt on 8781 3419 or Kate Ward on 9076 4839 to express interest.
  • An Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Carer’s Retreat. Carers must be of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin and be over the age of 50 or caring for a person over 50 years of age. The retreat is in Lancefield from 20-22 March. Call Cyndie on 9212 3017 to express interest.

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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

7 Feb Suicide Prevention Workshop
Allied Health Providers, Mental Health Workers
Heatherton
Details and registration
 
7 Feb ACRRM Webinar: Care Planning for the patient with multimorbidities - systems, teams and tools
GPs, Practice Nurses
Webinar
Details and registration
 
16 Feb Curing Hepatitis C: Hep C background and screening (webinar 1)
Nurses
Webinar
Details and registration
 
21 Feb Curing Hepatitis C: Treatment & Monitoring (webinar 2)
Nurses
Webinar
Details and registration
 
21 Feb Monash Lung & Sleep Institute Annual General Practitioners Update
GPs
Clayton
Details and registration
 
23 Feb Cabrini Lecture Series: Hip Surgery (Lecture 1)
GPs
Malvern
Details and registration
 
2 Mar Cabrini Lecture Series: Update on new medications and the increasing role of technology in diabetes (Lecture 2)
GPs
Malvern
Details and registration
 
7 Mar Suicide Prevention Workshop
Allied Health Providers, Mental Health Workers
Dandenong
Details and registration
 
16 Mar Understanding and responding to AOD issues
Health Professionals
Fitzroy
Details and registration
 
18 Mar The Alfred Allergy Symposium
GPs
Melbourne
Details and registration
 

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

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