NSW Health warns of measles risk 

NSW Health is asking people to watch for measles symptoms after a young adult, recently returned from Thailand, was diagnosed with the infection. The man was unknowingly susceptible to measles and developed symptoms around a week after returning to Sydney. He has now recovered and is no longer infectious. Measles symptoms include fever, sore eyes and a cough followed three or four days later by a red, blotchy rash spreading from the head and neck to the rest of the body.
Click here for more information.

Update on National Cervical Screening Program correspondence

The National Cancer Screening Register (the national Register) has been supporting the renewed National Cervical Screening Program (the Program) since the commencement of the new HPV-based Cervical Screening Test on 1 December 2017. From 2 July 2018, following the migration of records of state and territory cervical screening Registers to the national Register, the national Register became responsible for all Program correspondence.
Click here for information on impacts to your patients and how to access screening history information.

Go4Fun Term 1: starting 4 Feb 2019

Go4Fun is a free 10 week healthy lifestyle program running across NSW for kids aged 7-13 years who are above a healthy weight. Weekly sessions are delivered after school by qualified health professionals. The program aims to improve the health of the child through the development of healthy lifestyle behaviours, as well as educating and positively affecting attitude to food and exercise. 
Click here for more information and to view the inner Sydney Go4Fun programs.
Click here for the south eastern Sydney programs and here for the Aboriginal Go4Fun program. Making referrals has been made easier with the 'click to send' button in the new form. 

Your chance to be part of Hepatitis C and HIV elimination: The Dried Blood Spot Test

NSW has the ambitious aim of not only eliminating HIV transmission but also eliminating hepatitis C as a public health issue. The Drug and Alcohol sector now has an opportunity to be part of the solution to these blood borne viruses. All organisations are able to offer their clients access to Dried Blood Spot Testing. These home-sampling kits can be ordered online, or handed to clients when they access services. Testing only requires a fingerprick of blood and the results can be sent directly to the client in two weeks with onward referral for treatment. One in ten people living with HIV infection are undiagnosed, and there are 30-40,000 Australians who have chronic hepatitis C but remain untested and unable to access the new highly effective treatments.
Click here for more information or email Phoebe Chomley who can point you in the right direction to work out the options for your service.

GP and mental health shared care in SLHD – collaborating to improve health

GP and mental health shared care in the Sydney Local Health District (SLHD) is a program to ensure comprehensive and coordinated health care for people experiencing mental illness. This is extremely important as people experiencing mental illness have worse health outcomes including a reduced life expectancy, due to physical health issues, of up to 25 years compared to the general population.
Click here for more information.

New frailty clinic in Miranda

Frailty increases dependence, increases hospital admissions, and speeds up need to enter an aged care facility. This is a clinic to assess and manage older people who are declining in their health/function/cognition. It provides full comprehensive geriatric assessments, medication reviews and management with exercise and other allied health involvement. 
Click here for more information.

Health Minister’s Award for Nursing Trailblazers

The Australian College of Nursing are excited to announce that the Hon. Greg Hunt MP, in conjunction with Australian College of Nursing, is launching the Inaugural Health Minister’s Award for Nursing Trailblazers in 2019. This award is the first of its kind in Australia and acknowledges the vital role nurses play in transforming our country’s health and aged care system.
Applications open on 28 January and close 28 February. Click here for more information.

Survey on GPs and telehealth medical services

This anonymous survey is to find out about the prevalence of GPs’ readiness to develop technical and collaborative capabilities for telehealth medical services to manage locally pressing chronic and acute conditions of aged care patients through collaborative telehealth consultations with specialists. Completing the survey should take no longer than 5-10 minutes of your time.
Click here for more information and click here to take the survey.

Calling out to practice nurses!

Did you make new year resolutions to develop your nursing skills in 2019? If so, you’re in luck! CESPHN is partnering with Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association (APNA) to offer 15 free online CPD modules to practice nurses in the area. Topics include diabetes, asthma and obesity. Register now to complete the modules – make this the year that you upgrade your career!
Click here for more information.

AOD Transition Worker - Identified Role

This role will provide outreach drug and alcohol counselling and support to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people leaving NSW Correctional Centres – in particular, those with an intellectual disability or cognitive impairment; with a mental illness; and/or women who have dependent children. Your work will focus on the provision of AOD counselling, health promotion, support and referral to individuals for whom access to mainstream services remains difficult and /or inaccessible. 
Click here for more information.

New frailty clinic in Miranda

Frailty increases dependence, increases hospital admissions, and speeds up need to enter an aged care facility. This is a clinic to assess and manage older people who are declining in their health/function/cognition. It provides full comprehensive geriatric assessments, medication reviews and management with exercise and other allied health involvement. 
Click here for more information.

Go4Fun Term 1: starting 4 Feb 2019

Go4Fun is a free 10 week healthy lifestyle program running across NSW for kids aged 7-13 years who are above a healthy weight. Weekly sessions are delivered after school by qualified health professionals. The program aims to improve the health of the child through the development of healthy lifestyle behaviours, as well as educating and positively affecting attitude to food and exercise. 
Click here for more information and to view the inner Sydney Go4Fun programs.
Click here for the south eastern Sydney programs and here for the Aboriginal Go4Fun program. Making referrals has been made easier with the 'click to send' button in the new form. 

Your chance to be part of Hepatitis C and HIV elimination: The Dried Blood Spot Test

NSW has the ambitious aim of not only eliminating HIV transmission but also eliminating hepatitis C as a public health issue. The Drug and Alcohol sector now has an opportunity to be part of the solution to these blood borne viruses. All organisations are able to offer their clients access to Dried Blood Spot Testing. These home-sampling kits can be ordered online, or handed to clients when they access services. Testing only requires a fingerprick of blood and the results can be sent directly to the client in two weeks with onward referral for treatment. One in ten people living with HIV infection are undiagnosed, and there are 30-40,000 Australians who have chronic hepatitis C but remain untested and unable to access the new highly effective treatments.
Click here for more information or email Phoebe Chomley who can point you in the right direction to work out the options for your service.

Free exercise classes to combat depression and anxiety

Mood Active runs group exercise classes to combat depression/anxiety. Following a hugely successful 2018 program, their second FREE four week Wellbeing Workout, funded by City of Sydney, starts 11 Feb 2019 at Surry Hills. These 2.5 hour evening sessions will include strategies to start and sustain an exercise routine and include a 60 minute group exercise class.
Referrer enquiries: info@moodactive.com.au, 0412 190 842.
Click here for more information.

CPD in 2019

Thank you to everyone who was involved in the program throughout 2018. The PHN CPD team is currently hard at work planning events for 2019 which will commence in February.
More information and events will be added to the website as the calendar is finalised.

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.