COVID-19 pages for health professionals

SEMPHN has a number of COVID-19 information pages for health professionals on our website.

Follow the links to access SEMPHN's pages on:

• COVID-19 information for health professionals
• COVID-19 Vaccine
• 'COVID fatigue' and infection control practices

• General Practice planning for potential outbreaks

• COVID-19 Information for community

COVID-19 vaccine screening: Using My Health Record 

If you are administering COVID-19 vaccines, the pre-vaccination checklist states that these need to be checked prior to each dose:

• Previously administered COVID-19 vaccines
• Any other vaccines administered within the previous 14 days
• any contraindications or precautions for COVID-19 vaccinations.

Checking these may be more challenging for patients new to your practice and you don't have their complete medical records available.

My Health Record is the easiest way to check for immunisation history and allergies or adverse reactions. The reverse case is true for your patients who get vaccinated elsewhere. If you upload shared health summaries for any of your priority patients you will be providing a big helping hand to the other clinician and safer care for the patient. 

Don't forget it is mandatory to report all COVID-19 vaccinations to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR). Our Health VitalIT resource explains your available options for uploading data to AIR.

Do not hesitate to contact our Digital Health team at digitalhealth@semphn.org.au  or 03 8514 4460 if you have any questions about this or any other digital health queries.

Worried about cold chain breaches? These resources may prove useful

With the imminent influenza vaccine and COVID-19 vaccine rollout, please ensure all staff (current and new) involved with vaccine storage management have the skills, knowledge and training to manage vaccines appropriately and to identify and report cold chain breach events.

Current guidelines vaccine cold chain and training resources are available:

• National vaccine storage guidelines – strive for five resource collection
• Immunisation website – cold chain management and webinar training tool
• Conduct a vaccine storage self-audit– National vaccine storage guidelines – strive for five 

For more detailed clinical advice on this year's influenza vaccines and COVID-19 vaccines read: 

• ATAGI advice on seasonal influenza vaccines in 2021 
• COVID-19 vaccination – ATAGI advice on influenza and COVID-19 vaccines 

Telehealth and Video Call extension

MBS telehealth items have been extended to 30 June 2021. The federal government is working with the relevant peak clinical bodies on a permanent model for MBS-subsidised telehealth services.

Healthdirect’s Video Call platform, which is currently being used by many general practices for remote consultations, will continue to be available for free until at least 31st December 2021. 

Video Call is purpose-built for health and is a comprehensive, secure, and reliable video consulting platform.

Healthdirect is offering accredited training modules suitable for GPs and practice managers on  implementing and using Video Call in your practice:

• Register here for essential training – for newer users.
• Register here for advanced training – for experienced users who want to learn more advanced functionalities.

Any general practices that are interested in finding out more about Video Call or signing up for free access should contact our Digital Health team at digitalhealth@semphn.org.au  or 03 8514 4460.

Support for your patient's mental health treatment is just a phone call away

A friendly reminder that GPs in the Alfred catchment can access Psychiatrist secondary consultations (with an experienced psychiatrist) to support the mental health of their patients.

This can include discussing management plans, medication, and referral and linkage recommendations. It’s a non-urgent service, and only for patients over 25. There is more detailed info here.

Watch a 2-minute video with the psychiatrist delivering this service, Dr Nicolas Mims.

Call Access & Referral Ph: 1800 862 363, 8.30am-4.30pm weekdays to book a slot.

Practice Managers, save the dates for Quality Improvement

Practice managers join us on 14 April, 12.30 pm –1.30 pm for part one of a two-part series on Quality Improvement (QI).

In this first session, led by Dr Paresh Dawda, we will be exploring the basics of Quality Improvement in general practice.  

Part 1
When: Wednesday, 14 April 2021, 12.30 pm – 1.30 pm
Where: Online, Zoom
Cost: Free
Register here. 

Part two will look to the next steps of QI, translating theory into practice.

Part 2
When: Wednesday, 16 June 2021
Where: Online, Zoom
Cost: Free
Save the date! Registration will be available closer to the date. 

What is the role of practice nurses in sexual health? (webinar)

Practice nurses join us on 15 April, 7 pm – 8 pm for a webinar about the role of the practice nurse in sexual and reproductive health.

Our guest speakers are:

• Jess Elsworth Health Promotion Officer at Women’s Health in the South East,
• Cathy Halmrick, Nurse Practitioner, Women’s Services, Peninsula Health
• Cath Hannon, Project Manager - Sexual & Reproductive Health Clinical Champion Project

When: Thursday, 15 April 2021, 7 pm – 8 pm
Where: Online, Zoom
Cost: Free
Register here. 

New National Cancer Screening Registry Portal for clinicians

The National Cancer Screening Registry has released a portal for healthcare providers to allow access to information about participant screening.

The portal enables:

• Access to your patient’s bowel and cervical screening results and histories online, in real-time, when convenient for your practice and your staff
• Submitting forms electronically pre-filled with healthcare provider information removing the need to print/scan and fax
• Managing your patient’s participation including deferring their next screening, or opt-out on behalf of your patient, provided the patient’s consent is granted
• Order a free iFOBT kit directly to your eligible patients’ address

To access the Healthcare Provider Portal you’ll need to register for  PRODA (or Provider Digital Access) to enable secure access.

The process of setting up a PRODA login is quick and simple, and the website has handy information to help you through the process.

You can access the ‘Increasing Bowel Cancer Screening in General Practice’ Online Learning Module here.

It’s free, it only takes about 20 minutes and it is a great way to ensure you and the staff at your clinic are up to date with the latest strategies to promote bowel cancer screening with your patients.

HeadtoHelp: Share the Bear with your patients!

Do your patients need help approaching their mental health care? HeadtoHelp supports Victorians find access to mental health treatment suited to their needs. 

Who is HeadtoHelp for?

The HeadtoHelp service is open to Victorians of any age who may be experiencing distress or mental ill health. This includes people who have never accessed mental health services before and their family and friends. It also is for family and friends of those in aged care.

Anyone can call HeadtoHelp central intake on ph: 1800 595 212, Monday to Friday, 8.30am-5pm. HeadtoHelp services do not provide after-hours or emergency mental health advice or support.  In case of emergency, call 000.

Share the Bear (in a language other than English)! 

A friendly and relatable bear was designed to promote the HeadtoHelp service. The bear's worries, stresses and loneliness are relatable feelings for many Victorians since the pandemic started. 

Access the shareable resources here. 

Assist in shaping the Commonwealth Digital Health Blueprint

Now more than ever, there is a need for the Commonwealth to play a stronger role in setting digital health policy that delivers better health outcomes and experiences for consumers, while empowering health providers and creating efficiencies in their delivery of services.

The Commonwealth needs your help to guide and inform the prioritisation of a digital health blueprint and investment through the completion of a survey. Your views are important as they bring valuable insights and ideas from ‘frontline experience’ on how to create a more an efficient and usable digital health system.

To access the survey and more information, please click on the following link: http://go.srnet.com.au/CDHB38

The survey will take approximately 12 minutes to complete, depending on your responses.

The survey is being conducted by a Melbourne based market research company, EY Sweeney, commissioned by the Department to conduct independent research. As such the survey is completely anonymous and confidential.

Please feel free to give open and honest responses as reporting and analysis will be done in aggregate only and no responses will be attributed to any individual.

The survey closes on Sunday, 4 April 2021.

For queries about this survey please contact Fiona Purcell at EY Sweeney via email fiona.purcell@au.ey.com.