GP News – Aug ’16

NSW Health replaces machines and alerts cardiologists to rare infection risk

As a precaution, NSW Health has replaced a small number of machines used in cardiac surgery following international reports of a rare infection.

NSW Health has also advised clinicians to consider infections due to the M. chimaera bacteria in patients who have undergone open heart surgery in the last five years.

Infection of cardiac surgery patients with Mycobacterium chimaera associated with a particular piece of open heart surgery equipment (specifically heater-cooler units made by Sorin) was first recognised in 2012 in Switzerland. The devices, which are widely used around the world, are thought to have been contaminated during manufacture.

READ MORE

24-hour Diabetes Emergency Hotline for GPs

The Diabetes Emergency Hotline for GPs is a 24-hour telephone advice and information service, operated by the Royal North Shore Hospital diabetes team.

GPs should contact the Diabetes Emergency Hotline for advice and information on treating patients who show any of the following:

• Are poorly controlled, requiring complex treatment.
• Have recurrent hypoglycaemic episodes.
• Whose diabetes is deteriorating rapidly and they may need imminent hospitalisation or treatment escalation.

Hotline number: 0475 979 398

Are you interested in helping to improve the sharing of patient information between practice and Registered Aged Care Facilities?

Sydney North Health Network is seeking the involvement of local GPs and Registered Aged Care Facilities (RACFs) to participate in a trial to enhance communication channels for sharing of residents’ digital health data. Selected local RACFs will be provided with secure messaging software compatible with that of your practice and registered for the rapidly expanding My Health Record digital health system.

CLICK HERE for more information and how to register.

New primary care nurse transition program seeks general practice participation

Sydney North Health Network are seeking expressions of interest from General Practices who would like to participate in the Primary Care Graduate Nurse Transition Program, being offered in partnership with the University of Sydney and Primary & Community Care Services.

About the program

The Primary Care Graduate Nurse Transition Program recognises the important and growing role of Primary Care Nursing. With a similar concept to GP registrar training, the Transition Program has been specifically designed for recently graduated Registered Nurses entering primary care directly from university studies. The graduates will work in local general practices and become part of your vibrant multidisciplinary primary care team, whilst being supported by a Transition Program Coordinator, who will deliver a structured education program and facilitate workplace learning, preceptorship and practice development.

CLICK HERE for more information and how to register.

Be Medicinewise Week 2016

This Be Medicinewise Week (22–28 August), Australians are being encouraged to ‘take charge’ of their medicines by asking questions of the right people and following the right advice, when they agree to use a prescription or complementary medicine.

• What is the medicine for?
• What is the active ingredient?
• How do I take or use this medicine correctly?
• What are the possible side effects and what can I do about them?
• What should or shouldn’t I do when taking this medication?

As a GP are you confident your patients have the answers to these questions?

CLICK HERE for practice resources.

MedicineInsight – Join the prescribing revolution

MedicineInsight is a primary care quality improvement program from NPS MedicineWise. It collects clinical data to link patient conditions with treatments and their impacts to support quality improvement in participating general practices.

MedicineInsight follows the patient journey from diagnosis through to the impacts of treatment. It collects and analyses data from patient records to give one of the most comprehensive pictures of general practice healthcare both at a local and national level. MedicineInsight also provides the practice with individualised reports, in-practice education and support.

MedicineInsight aims to do the following: support quality improvement in participating general practices; reduce complexity in prescribing; inform future policy; achieve better healthcare for Australians; and support a sustainable PBS.

For more information, you can phone the MedicineInsight information line on 1300 721 726, register your interest in participating via medicineinsight.org.au or email medicineinsight@nps.org.au.

For any enquiries, please contact Steve, MedicineInsight GP Engagement Officer on (02) 8217 8640 or at smillard@nps.org.au.

GPs needed for study on lung cancer care pathways

The Cancer Institute NSW seeks GPs to be advisors on a study examining the care pathways of people with lung cancer in NSW.

This retrospective study will examine the diagnosis and treatment patterns of people diagnosed with lung cancer who are participants of the 45 and Up Study. The 45 and Up Study provides a unique resource to study health service use in the primary, community and tertiary care settings as participants have consented to the linkage of their health records, including MBS, PBS, hospital admission and emergency department attendance data. The focus will be on the use of imaging and specialist referral in the lead up to diagnosis and the impact of co-morbidities on treatment pathways.

The Cancer Institute NSW is seeking GPs with an interest in cancer and the management of COPD to advise on the study methods (eg attendances, procedures and prescriptions and their item numbers in the MBS and PBS) and the interpretation of the study results. It is anticipated that the study will be for a period of 6 months and require a time commitment of 2-3 hours per month for the review of documents and meetings via teleconference. There is the possibility of joint authorship on publications which arise from this work.

If you’re interested, please contact Nicola Creighton at Nicola.Creighton@cancerinstitute.org.au or on 02 8374 3612.

Expressions of interest – INTEGRATE Study by The George Institute

The George Institute for Global Health is seeking general practices that use either Best Practice or Medical Director Software to participate in its INTEGRATE Study.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is associated with large morbidity and premature mortality and the use of anti-hypertensive, statin and anti-platelet therapies have proven benefits. But there are still many patients with high risk of CVD who are not prescribed or compliant with the recommended treatments. The study aims to assess whether integrating three evidence-based tools will improve cardiovascular outcomes.

CLICK HERE for the EOI.
CLICK HERE for more information.

APAC Sick Patient Flip Chart Pilot

The APAC Sick Patient Flip Chart pilot is being rolled out to 6 Residential Aged Care Facilities in the beaches area by the Beaches RAPID ACCESS Care of the Elderly Team (BRACE) team.

These facilities are participating in a 3 month pilot of the Sick Resident Flip Chart (assessing & managing a deteriorating resident) from August to November 2016.

The BRACE team will be partnering with treating GPs in decision making about management plans for deteriorating residents.

The team has completed a train the trainer session for key clinical nursing staff and will continue to support staff in these facilities in training other staff and implementing use of the flip chart.

The flip chart is based on the NHHEDI in Hornsby and been adapted for BRACE. It has been distributed in the North Shore / Ryde area. Sydney North Health Network (Northern Sydney PHN) supports the implementation of the training and has funded the printing of these flip charts.

CLICK HERE for the APAC Sick Patient Flip Chart.

Women’s Health Week (5-9 September)

Women’s Health Week is Jean Hailes’ national signature campaign that runs every September. Jean Hailes for Women’s Health is a national not-for-profit organisation that is dedicated to providing women with information, knowledge and clinical care to assist them to manage their own health and wellbeing.

The week is dedicated to all women across Australia to learn more about their health and take action. This year’s theme is ‘Am I Normal?’. It is designed to open up a conversation about topics such as weight, body image, sex and relationships, and mental health.

You can show your support by wearing an elephant pin throughout the week or CLICK HERE for more information on Women’s Health Week.