Professional development opportunities and events read more

Chief Health Officer Advisory - Zostavax and at risk patients
Read this advisory about the shingles vaccine Zostavax read more

Doctors in Secondary Schools - expression of interest now open
We are seeking general practices with an interest in adolescent health read more

'Building Capacity for General Practice' - grants coming soon
Grant opportunities with a total funding pool of around $2.5 million will be released in the coming weeks read more

POLAR GP: getting things done
A new report called Clinical Indicators makes sophisticated searching possible read more

Which patients are eligible for refugee and asylum seeker services?
SEMPHN has a simple resource to help out read more

Funded training on past forced adoption policies and practices
There's a broader range of mental health professionals eligible to access subsidised training read more

Grants available for community-based palliative care
Grants up to $50k are available read more

Free suicideTALK worshops for community members
Let patients and carers know about these free workshops read more

Recognise Australia's primary health care leaders
Nominations are open for the 2017 HESTA Primary Health Care Awards read more

The Chief Health Officer Advisory issued the following on 3 March to health professionals, aged care facilities and the Victorian public:

Zostavax and at risk patients

Key messages:

• The shingles vaccine Zostavax® has been provided free for 70-79 year olds since  November 2016.
• Zostavax® is contraindicated in patients who are immunocompromised.
• Administration, where contraindicated, has resulted in a death in Australia.
• Do not administer Zostavax® to patients who are immunocompromised.
• If someone is on a combination of medications or if there is any doubt whether Zostavax® is safe for your patient, defer vaccination and seek specialist advice.
• If in doubt, seek advice from a specialist or the Department of Health and Human Services Immunisation Section on telephone 1300 882 008.

Read the full advisory Zostavax and at risk patients.

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We are looking for general practices with an interest in adolescent health to apply to be part of the Doctors in Secondary Schools program, providing youth-friendly health services in schools.

Selected general practices will provide GPs and deliver services for up to one day a week, in partnership with the participating school and staff.

There's an accompanying role for a nurse from the selected general practice to work with the GP, particularly in care coordination.

Independent GPs may also apply.

There are five schools in the SEMPHN region that will have services start in Term 1 and Term 2 in 2017.

An extra 13 schools will start later in 2017 and 2018. 

For more information visit here or email providersupport@semphn.org.au.

Expressions of interest for the first five schools close 12 midday, 20 March.

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In the coming weeks, SEMPHN will release a tender for grants with a total funding pool of around $2.5 million, for a large number of General Practices within the SEMPHN region.

The grants will build capacity of systems and processes to support General Practice.

Sign up for information updates via SEMPHN’s commissioning newsletter.

An information evening about the tender will be held on 30 March. Register here. 

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

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POLAR GP has a new report called Clinical Indicators which makes it possible to do much more sophisticated searching. You can quickly find patients with one or more conditions and narrow the list further by finding what has not happened to them.

For example, in around ten seconds you can list the patients with a cardiovascular diagnosis and no BP recorded.

Once you have your list, you can export it into a spreadsheet for use in your recall process.

POLAR GP stands for Population Level Analysis & Reporting for General Practice. POLAR GP is useful for insight and planning across clinical and business and accreditation for general practices of all sizes.

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.

We use de-identified and aggregated POLAR GP data to improve population health planning across the SEMPHN catchment.

SEMPHN offers POLAR GP free to general practices - installed on any of your practice’s computers - with ongoing licencing and support.

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

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It’s hard for GPs to keep up with rules and guidelines about which patients are eligible for refugee and asylum seeker services, or how to refer them.

A simple resource is now available to help out. The visa types and their matching healthcare eligibilities are clearly laid out, so you can quickly find the most appropriate service to refer to.

It also contains key information about refugee and asylum seeker health and a list of providers in our catchment who support patients.

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A broader range of mental health professionals working with people affected by forced adoption are now eligible to access subsidised training.

Eligible professions include counsellors, therapists and relevant case workers, as well as Aboriginal health workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, general practitioners, social workers, occupational therapists and mental health nurses.

Two courses from the Australian Psychological Society (APS) are available free of charge for health professionals:

1. Working with people affected by forced adoption: training for mental health professionals (8 hrs)
2. An overview: understanding past forced adoption policies and practices (1 hr)

The training is subsidised by the Department of Health.

For more information email forced_adoption@psychology.org.au.

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Applications for the 2017 equipment and infrastructure grant for community-based palliative care are available from the State Government.

Grants up to $50,000 per item are available for equipment and infrastructure that:

• improve and expand the service's ability to provide direct home-based end of life care
• address occupational health and safety risks for staff, carers and clients.

The grant guidelines are here.

Applications can only be submitted by Victorian public funded community palliative care services and close 5pm 13 April.

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Community members aged 15+ are invited to participate in an exploration of suicide awareness at a free suicideTALK workshop.

The 90-minute workshop aims to help participants:

• Understand how personal and community beliefs about suicide affect suicide stigma and safety
• Appreciate how the steps taught in safeTALK and ASIST can be used to help prevent suicide
• Choose among ways to help protect, preserve and promote life in a suicide-safer community.

24 Feb - 7 to 8.30pm, Dandenong
27 Feb - 1 to 2.30pm, Cranbourne
11 March - 10 to 11.30am, Cranbourne
16 March - 6.30 to 8pm, Dandenong
21 March - 7 to 8.30pm, Beaconsfield
25 March - 10 to 11.30am, Cranbourne
27 March - 6.30 to 8pm, Dandenong

Please let any patients know that they can book their place via www.suicidesaferschools.org.au

For more information call Debra Croft on 0411 294 320 or email training@lifecentral.org.au.

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The search for the nation’s best primary health care professionals has begun with nominations now open for the 2017 HESTA Primary Health Care Awards.

Presented in conjunction with the 12th National Allied Health Conference, the Awards recognise the dedication and professionalism of those working in all aspects of primary health care including GPs, health educators, medical practice managers, rehabilitation professionals, physios, osteopaths, dentists, pharmacists and other related therapists.

Employers, colleagues, patients/carers, and individuals can nominate online from now until 2 June.

Each winner in three award categories, Young Leader, Individual Distinction and Team Excellence, will receive $10,000 in a ME Everyday Transaction account to use for further education or team development.

Finalists will receive complimentary registration for the 12th National Allied Health Conference, with interstate finalists flown to Sydney to attend the awards dinner on 28 August.

Submit a nomination today at hestaawards.com.au

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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

16 Mar	Understanding and responding to AOD issues Health Professionals Fitzroy Details and registration
16 Mar	Cabrini GP Lecture 4, LUTS and the Prostate GPs Malvern Details and registration
18 Mar	The Alfred Allergy Symposium GPs Melbourne Details and registration
18 Mar	The Breathless Patient - when to worry GPs Melbourne Details and registration
18 Mar	Breast, Gynae and Prostate Cancer in Primary Care GPs Melbourne Details and registration
21 Mar	Challenges and Opportunities: Implementation of Real-Time Prescription Monitoring GPs, Nurse Practitioners, Pharmacists Melbourne Details and registrations
22 Mar	Maximising Mental Health in Aged Care - Waitlist GPs,  Aged Care Managers, Aged Care Nurses, Pharmacists, Allied Health Professionals Mornington Details and registration
23 Mar	Cabrini GP Lecture 5, Collaborative Care in Obstetrics GPs Cabrini Malvern Details and registration
28 Mar	Opioid Pharmacotherapy Small Group Learning - Southern GPs SEMPHN Dandenong Details and registration
29 Mar	Joint GP, Pain Medicine, Addiction Medicine & Psychiatry Dinner Allied Health Professionals, GP's Glen Waverley Details and registration
29 Mar	Dandenong Practice Networks Practice Nurse, Owner/Principal, Practice Manager Dandenong  Details and registration
3 Apr	LGBTI Aged Care Training Allied Health Professional, Manager, Practice Nurse, Mental Health Nurse, Pharmacist South Melbourne Details and registration
5 Apr	Naloxone Training for Pharmacists Pharmacists Mornington Details and registration

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

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