Professional development opportunities and events read more

Grants open for General Practice
Multiple grants of up to $100,000 are available read more

GP training: Medication Assisted Treatment for Opioid Dependence
Help your patients by being able to prescribe read more

Have your say in cancer care pathways
Please help us with some baseline data about how you use pathways read more

Do your 'active' patients have allergy status recorded? 
POLAR GP can tell you at a glance read more

Work resumes to get test reports into My Health Record
Activites have begun for pathology and diagnostic imaging (DI) reports read more

Workshop: Hepatitis C in Drug and Alcohol Settings
Get the skills to confidently prescribe the new DAAs read more

Victorian Carer Statement Survey
Organisations and carers are invited to have a say read more

Have a say in housing, homelessness and mental health
An online consultation is open until 24 April read more

Mercy Perinatal Mental Health Symposium 
Do you look after women who are pregnant? read more

Tenders are open for multiple grants up to the value of $100,000 (GST exclusive) to general practices in the SEMPHN region.

The aim is to help build General Practice capacity to manage patients with chronic and complex conditions to achieve one of the key PHN national priorities - reducing Potentially Preventable Hospitalisations (PPH).

The grants will support systemic change that will:

• improve the health system, service and the health literacy of patients and their families
• enhance patients' ability to manage their own health needs through self-care strategies
• improve health outcomes for those patients with poorly managed chronic conditions.
• reduce the rate of PPH for chronic conditions in the SEMPHN region
• increase the efficacy of care coordination strategies to better manage chronic and complex conditions and to improve the patient’s quality of life, and
• improve the sustainability of the practice by improving systems and quality to accommodate more clients and offer additional billable services.

An information evening about the tender will be held at 6pm on 12 April in Dandenong. Register here.

The session will be recorded and available to view on the SEMPHN website after the session.

Register your interest and apply for these grants on SEMPHN's Tenderlink page.

Tenders close 3pm 27 April.

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Opioid dependence is a growing public health concern affecting a wide variety of patients including users of illicit, prescription and over-the-counter opioids.

Pharmacotherapy such as buprenorphine/naloxone (Suboxone®), buprenorphine (Subutex®) and methadone are effective evidence-based treatments for opioid dependence.

To prescribe buprenorphine/naloxone (Suboxone®) for more than five patients or methadone for any patient, the following two-part free training is a requirement:

1. Module 1 – A two hour online workshop Safer Opiod Prescribing. This needs to be completed before attending Module 2. Please retain your certificate after completion.
2. Module 2 – A one day face-to-face interactive skills-based workshop provided by RACGP.

The next dates for Module 2 are 23 April and 5 May. More info about these events is listed here.

Any GP can prescribe buprenorphine/naloxone (Suboxone®) for up to five patients without completing the above training. 

Contact Jacqueline Apostolopoulos on 0429 808 317 or email jacqueline.apostolopoulos@semphn.org.au for enquiries and to find out more about available supports, including peer-based mentoring.

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SEMPHN is participating in the Victorian implementation of Optimal Cancer Care Pathways (OCPs) - national guides to the best cancer care for 15 specific tumour types.

This is in partnership with the Cancer Council Victoria and Integrated Cancer Services, funded by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Before the pathways roll out, we’d like feedback (via this five-minute online survey) from GPs and practice nurses to help us gather baseline data. Your participation will help to guide future strategies for the implementation of Optimal Care Pathways.

The survey is anonymous and multiple members of staff from a practice can complete it. The survey closes 14 April.

If you have any questions, please contact Alisha Jackson via alisha.jackson@semphn.org.au.

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Allergy status is one of the key elements of a patient’s summary. If the status is in the record it can save GPs time, particularly when trying to identify potential medicine interactions and side effects.

POLAR GP can tell you at a glance if at least 95% of your ‘active’ or ‘RACGP active’ patients have the allergy information recorded. It’s on the Quality report in the 'Missing Patient Clinical Data' graph. You can click on this element and export a list of patients to use in your recall process.

More than 100 general practices within the SEMPHN catchment that use Best Practice and Medical Director have signed on to use POLAR GP. Compatibility with Zedmed is coming soon and being tested in a few practices.
 
SEMPHN offers POLAR GP free to general practices and includes installation on any of your practice’s computers and ongoing licencing and support.

For more information and a demonstration of POLAR GP, call our ehealth team on 03 8514 4460, email ehealth@semphn.org.au or visit www.semphn.org.au/polargp.

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A second push to get pathology and diagnostic imaging (DI) reports into the My Health Record (MyHR) has restarted.

States and territories are now working to connect public hospital systems to MyHR, and the Digital Health Agency hopes to begin pilots with pathology and DI providers.

NSW Health just announced that they have started to upload pathology reports. It’s expected to be possible in Victoria next year.

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Are you a clinical professional working in drug and alcohol settings? Do you work with people who inject drugs and would like to effectively test for, treat and manage hepatitis C?

If you're a GP or other clinician able to prescribe, this online learning and face-face workshop will give you the skills to confidently prescribe the new DAAs.

You will be able to:

• describe the risk factors for HCV infection to enable effective practice screening and prevention education
• interpret clinical and other relevant information to provide effective care for people living with HCV infection
• demonstrate competence in liver disease assessment
• demonstrate understanding of DAA therapy for the treatment of HCV and competence in selecting and
• prescribe appropriate therapy
• monitor patients on treatment and post-treatment appropriately

For more information and to register visit here.

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What works best in existing services and supports? What could be improved and how? What service gaps are there?

The Victorian Government is working with Carers Victoria to develop a Carer Statement which will outline how they can best support and recognise carers.

They want to hear from carers and organisations that support someone with a disability, mental illness, chronic illness or an older person with care needs.

Face to face consultations and an online survey are available.

For more information visit here.

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The National Mental Health Commission is calling on consumers, carers, families and support people to share housing and homelessness experiences in relation to mental health through an online consultation until 24 April.

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Are you a GP who looks after pregnant women?

The Mercy Hospital for Women is hosting a Perinatal Mental Health Symposium on 19 August.

Participants will learn about: 

• the toolkit for mental health assessment on the run
• informed consent when prescribing psychotropic drugs, and what works when
• emergency assessment: negotiating the CAT maze
• perinatal loss and grief counselling: how to do it well
• adjustment tips for postnatal life for mum and dad

The program has been developed with clinicians in mind: obstetricians, midwives, GPs, psychiatrists and all those working in maternity care.

For more details and registration visit here.

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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

19 Apr	Curing hepatitis C: Your questions answered GP's Webinar Details and registration
19 Apr	Suicide Prevention Workshop Allied Health Professional, Case worker, Practice Nurse, Mental health, Psychologist Dandenong Details and registration
20 Apr	Frankston Practice Networks Practice Nurse, Owner/Principal, Practice Manager Frankston Details and registration
27 Apr	Advance Practical Workshop Practice Nurses Dandenong Details and registration
27 Apr	St Kilda Practice Networks Practice Nurse, Owner/Principal, Practice Manager St Kilda Details and registration
27 Apr	Perinatal Mental Health Allied Health Professional, General Practitioner, Nurse - Other Clayton Details and registration
30 Apr	Hepatitis C in Drug and Alcohol Settings GPs, Nurse Practitioners, Pharmacist, Specialists Dandenong Details and registration
4 May	Youth Mental Health First Aid (2 days 4 and 11 May) Case worker, Community member, Other Cheltenham Details and registration
4 May	Consumer Participation in the Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) sector event Aboriginal Health Worker, Allied Health Professional, Case worker, GP, Practice Nurse, Mental health Nurse, Pharmacist, Practice Manager, Psychologist 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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