5-Minute Catchup

The Check-Up | 13 October 2022

Episode Summary

The Check-Up is a weekly news segment of the 5-Minute Catchup, bringing notable news in a convenient medium. In this week’s podcast we’ll talk about COVID updates, a Cervical Screening Communications Toolkit, World Mental Health Day, Practice Connect, Allied Health Professionals Day, CHN education events and more.

Episode Notes

Prime Minister of Australia - Meeting of National Cabinet

National Cervical Screening Program – Healthcare Provider Toolkit

Mental Health Australia - 2022 World Mental Health Day Campaign

Mental Health First Aid - One in Ten campaign

Capital Health Network - CHN Practice Connect

Capital Health Network - CHN Educational Events

Department of Health and Aged Care - COVID-19 Vaccines in Australia – A3 poster

Department of Health and Aged Care - Resources for health professionals managing patients with intellectual disability

ACT Health - Allied Health Professions Day

Allied Health Professions Australia - Allied Health Professions Day

Questions? Contact our Primary Care Team via email and we'll be in touch.
primarycare@chnact.org.au

Episode Transcription

Welcome to the five-minute catch up my name is Kate Aigner from the Quality Improvement Team, and this is your weekly Check-up.

In this week’s podcast we’ll talk about COVID updates, a Cervical Screening Communications Toolkit, World Mental Health Day, Practice Connect, Allied Health Professionals Day, CHN education events and more.

To start things off, National Cabinet has announced that mandatory isolation requirements for COVID-19 will end, effective the 14 October, with Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment (PLDP) ending on the same date. Targeted financial support for casual workers, on the same basis as the PLDP, for workers in aged care, disability care, aboriginal healthcare and hospital care sectors will continue. Details including eligibility and compliance will be released by Services Australia.

In a message from the Chief Medical Officer, Paul Kelly, GPs are encouraged to continue engaging with their patients, pre-assess their suitability for COVID-19 treatments wherever possible and discuss advanced consent, noting a prescription cannot be issued in advance, that is, without a positive verified RAT or PCR test. GPs are reminded that the oral antiviral treatments are safe, effective and available, and there is no limit to prescribing a subsequent course under the PBS criteria if an eligible patient tests positive again. This is especially important in residential aged care, where residents were among the very first to commence their vaccination program in 2021.

A new Cervical Screening Communications Toolkit has been developed by the National Cervical Screening Program. The toolkit provides organisations with consistent messages about the National Cervical Screening Program, the Cervical Screening Test, and the new self-collect option. Details are in the link below.

World Mental Health Day on the 10 October has a focus on awareness, belonging and connection. To mark the day, Mental Health First Aid Australia have launched a campaign designed to raise awareness of the need for mental health literacy and skills in every workplace, school, and community across the country. The campaign focuses on the idea that ‘anyone can have a conversation that may save a life, and everyone should know how’, with the goal of training 1 in 10 Australians by 2030. Details are linked below.

Onto professional development, places are filling fast for Capital Health Network’s second Practice Connect networking event for Practice Managers and Practice Nurses coming up on Tuesday 18 October. This event will be exploring opportunities for chronic disease management in your practice, in particular GP Management Plans and Team Care Arrangements and the roles all practice staff play in these processes. Practice Connect will be held at The Glasshouse, Pialligo Estate and the registration link is below. Other CHN events include CHN’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Awareness training event at Pialligo Estate on the 25 October and Electronic referrals for GPs and specialists, online on the 26 October. Links to our events can be found below.

Now it’s time for the titbits…

The Department of Health and Aged Care has released a new resource, the COVID Vaccines in Australia Poster which provides key differences between each COVID-19 vaccine approved for use in Australia by ATAGI.
A collection of resources has been developed for health professionals to support the delivery of better health care to people with intellectual disability. See the link below for details of both these resources.
And 14 October is Allied Health Professions Day, an international event celebrating and bringing together the allied health professional community. Allied health professionals have been working on the frontline in hospitals in Australia’s response to COVID-19 and adapting to new methods of service delivery in primary care. From the ICU to community-based rehabilitation, allied health professionals have an important role to play in physical and mental recovery for people who have had COVID-19.

And that wraps up your weekly check-up. Did you know that Capital Health Network is always available to answer your queries? If you have any questions about any of the information in this podcast, get in contact with us via email at primarycare@chnact.org.au

Our Quality Improvement Team here at Capital Health Network can assist you and your practice in developing QuIK Cycle Activities – a Plan-Do-Study-Act Quality Improvement Activity which could award participating General Practitioners with RACGP CPD Points by undertaking Self-Directed Quality Improvement. Get in contact with our team to discuss your opportunities for Continuous Quality Improvement.

On behalf of everyone here at Capital Health Network through the ACT’s PHN Program we thank you for tuning in and we’ll see you next Thursday for your next Check-up.

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