Dear subscriber,

Welcome to this week's edition of Sydney Health Weekly! Central and Eastern Sydney PHN aims to make this newsletter your efficient one-stop-shop for primary health news and events within the central and eastern Sydney region. We are constantly working on making your news as targeted and relevant as possible and welcome your feedback to editor@cesphn.com.au.

Featured News

Interested in telehealth and providing better care to your patients?

If you or your practice is interested in making a move into the telehealth space, then the CESPHN commissioned ‘Staying Healthy Living Well' Telehealth program is a great place to start. The 'Staying Healthy Living Well' program is a free health support, telemonitoring and coaching service to assist patients become more confident in understanding and monitoring their health conditions. The program provides patients and GPs with the additional assistance required to reinforce and educate important healthcare messages patients receive from their GP and practice nurse.
Click here to learn more about a patient experience.

Innovative and free AOD recovery group program

Odyssey House Community Services offers a free and innovative Alcohol and Other Drugs Recovery Group Program in two parts called "Our Recovery Journey" and "Navigating the Recovery Journey".

• AOD Recovery Stage 1, 2.00 pm - 4.00 pm (Redfern - Wednesdays, Canterbury - Mondays)
• AOD Recovery Stage 2, 2.00 pm - 4.00 pm (Redfern - Tuesdays, Canterbury - Fridays)

Indigenous Women’s Wellbeing Group will commence on Friday 15 March 2019  (time and site TBC).
Click here for more information.

Bringing Up Great Kids support group

Odyssey House Community Services offers the Bringing Up Great Kids support group. This group is designed to assist parents recovering from alcohol and/or drug issues through provision of a positive parenting educational program. Participants will increase skills to become more reflective in their parenting approach, as the group supports caring and nurturing relationships between parents and children. Please contact the Odyssey House Assessment Team to secure a position in this free program on 1800 397 739 (press 2).
Click here for more information.

A free Clinical Emergency Management Program is now available

CESPHN, as part of an after hours initiative, is offering GPs the opportunity to take part in a free one-day Clinical Emergency Management Program. This workshop will be provided by a national team of highly trained intensive care paramedics. Upon completion GPs are eligible to receive 40 Category 1 points in the RACGP QI&CPD Program and will meet the 2017-2019 triennium basic CPR course requirements.
Click here for more information. 

Optimising transgender health in the general practice setting

The Transgender and Gender Diverse (TGD) community are a vulnerable community with intersectional health needs. There is an acknowledged lack of engagement with the health care system, attributed to a number of reasons. These include real or perceived stigma from the health care workers or health services and real or perceived lack of knowledge or skill from the health care workers in regards to TGD care. Join the RACGP, the Gender Center, the University of Sydney and the Albion Center to increase your  knowledge, clinical skills and confidence in providing care for the TGD population.
Click here for more information and to register.

Diving into Quality Improvement

As of today we are still waiting for exact details of the new QI PIP. However, we do know that for your practice to qualify for the payment you will need to upload de-identified data to the CESPHN using a data extraction tool. CESPHN supports both POLAR and PENCAT. You will also need to demonstrate “meaningful use of data”.
Click here for more information.

New Medicare item numbers and changes to RACF

As of 1 March 2019, new Medicare rebates became available to general practitioners and medical practitioners attending patients at RACF. The surprise is a new call out fee item number 90001 with a rebate of $55.00. The derived fee based on sliding scale relating to number of patients visited at each RACF has also been discontinued.  
Click here for more information.

Have your say - Cervical screening during the antenatal and postnatal periods 

You are invited to complete an online survey for a study from CESPHN, SESLHD and Cancer Institute NSW that aims to increase rates of participation in cervical screening of never screened and under screened women from priority populations during the antenatal and postnatal periods.

Click here if you are a provider of cervical screening.
Click here if you promote or refer to cervical screening.

Click here for more information.

My Health Record update

9 out of 10 Australians have a My Health Record and we are seeing a trend of increased usage and adoption from healthcare providers. We’ve also seen a considerable increase in requests from health professionals who are eager to learn more about the system. If you or any providers you work with have any questions regarding My Health Record, please contact the team via myhealthrecord@cesphn.com.au.
Click here for more information.

ANSC GPs: NSW Health Maternity Care Policy Revision Workshop 

NSW Health is conducting a series of engagement workshops for health professionals, consumers and stakeholders to explore how NSW Health can support high quality maternity care. GP representation at this free workshop would provide an opportunity to support the GP ANSC program as a model of pregnancy care alongside the midwifery-led models of care.
Click here for more information.

Electronic Referrals to RPAH and Concord Haematology Clinics

Medical Director, Best Practice and Genie users can now refer their patients to Haematology Clinics in the Concord Hospital and Royal Prince Alfred Hospital directly from their software using Healthlink SmartForms. The SmartForm technology can prepopulate the form with patient details directly from your software and efficiently and securely send directly to the Haematology Clinics and receive acknowledgment of the receipt.  
Click here for more information.

Innovative and free AOD recovery group program

Odyssey House Community Services offers a free and innovative Alcohol and Other Drugs Recovery Group Program in two parts called "Our Recovery Journey" and "Navigating the Recovery Journey".

• AOD Recovery Stage 1, 2.00 pm - 4.00 pm (Redfern - Wednesdays, Canterbury - Mondays)
• AOD Recovery Stage 2, 2.00 pm - 4.00 pm (Redfern - Tuesdays, Canterbury - Fridays)

Indigenous Women’s Wellbeing Group will commence on Friday 15 March 2019  (time and site TBC).
Click here for more information.

Bringing Up Great Kids support group

Odyssey House Community Services offers the Bringing Up Great Kids support group. This group is designed to assist parents recovering from alcohol and/or drug issues through provision of a positive parenting educational program. Participants will increase skills to become more reflective in their parenting approach, as the group supports caring and nurturing relationships between parents and children. Please contact the Odyssey House Assessment Team to secure a position in this free program on 1800 397 739 (press 2).
Click here for more information.

Have your say - Cervical screening during the antenatal and postnatal periods 

You are invited to complete an online survey for a study from CESPHN, SESLHD and Cancer Institute NSW that aims to increase rates of participation in cervical screening of never screened and under screened women from priority populations during the antenatal and postnatal periods.

Click here if you are a provider of cervical screening.
Click here if you promote or refer to cervical screening.

Click here for more information.

2019 Australian Podiatry Conference

Register now for 2019 Australian Podiatry Conference taking place from Wednesday 22 to Friday 24 May 2019 at the Adelaide Convention Centre, South Australia. The Australian Podiatry Conference brings together podiatrists from near and far with an exciting program planned, including four international keynote speakers and six national invited speakers, supported by local experts and many peer contributors. Over three jam packed days, attend up to 30 diverse workshops, two panel sessions, interact with over 80 exhibitors showing the latest products and advancements and receive ten CPD hours.
Click here for more information. 

Feeling Lonely? Sutherland Shire Befriending Morning Tea

If you're feeling like you could use extra company in your life, the Befriending Program has volunteers who will regularly call and visit people who are feeling left out and provide them with company, conversation and friendship. Tuesday 26 March 10am to 12pm at Club on East, 7 East Parade, Sutherland. RSVP online by 21 March.
Click here for more information.

National Close the Gap Day

21 March is National Close the Gap Day, which is an important time for all Australians to come together and commit to achieving health equality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Close the Gap is a campaign that has had a real impact in shaping government policy. You can find more information in the recent Closing the Gap report from the Australian Government.

Family Violence Law Help is now live 

New national website for people wanting to understand domestic and family violence, the law and where to get help.
Click here for more information.

Free mental health exercise programs launching in Rockdale this month!

Mood Active has now expanded to Rockdale and are offering two physical exercise programs targeted at improving mental health within the community. The two options, a four or eight week supported program, are built on clinical research and run by a team of passionate mental health first aid trained professionals. See the attached brochure for referral and program information.  
Click here for more information.

As always, we'd love to hear your thoughts. If you would like to submit an article or have suggestions on content you would be interested in reading, please email editor@cesphn.com.au.