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Welcome to your Springs Medical Community Newsletter
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Friend of Springs Medical, we're excited that you've joined us. Thanks for subscribing!
Our aim is to provide you with quality health and wellbeing information and to keep you up to date with what's happening at Springs Medical's Daylesford and Trentham clinics.
Our team is here to answer any questions you may have about our newsletter. We'd love to hear your ideas for future topics. Please contact us at newsletter@springsmedical.com.au. We look forward to hearing from you.
From all of us at Springs Medical, thanks so much for your interest in joining our community.
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Introducing our new clinic for women
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Springs Medical is launching a new Women’s Wellness Clinic (WWC) this month. The premium service will be provided for women by women at Daylesford and Trentham. Extended appointments will give local women at all stages of life the time they need to discuss issues of concern. The dedicated Women’s Wellness Clinics will be run by female GPs, expert in providing comprehensive women’s wellness checks.
To coincide with the launch, the Department of Health and Human Services in association with Western Victoria Primary Health Network has funded two information evenings to promote the importance of bowel, breast and cervical cancer screening. Entertainment and nibbles will be provided. The Cancer Council is also supporting the events.
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Women's wellness: some things shouldn't be rushed
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'We will take into consideration the whole person.' - Dr Beth Quin
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Various issues will affect a woman throughout her lifetime, from the start of periods to menopause and beyond. Wellness is not just about seeking medical help when there’s a problem. It’s about learning how best to thrive during all stages of womanhood, not just ‘survive’.
Springs Medical GP Beth Quin will be one of four experienced women’s health practitioners at Springs Medical’s new Women’s Wellness Clinics (WWC) at Daylesford and Trentham.
She says rural women are notoriously stoics, putting other responsibilities ahead of their health and general wellbeing. This is a big problem, particularly in the prevention and management of serious illness.
The structure of general practice, with short ‘standard’ appointment times, means some women may feel rushed or uncomfortable raising some concerns with their GP.
The Women’s Wellness Clinic has been designed as a premium service offering comprehensive care. Female GPs expert in women’s health will provide extended consultations in a comfortable environment where a woman’s concerns can be listened to and dealt with sensitively.
Springs Medical is committed to helping women thrive through access to:
- expert, caring health professionals keen to listen
- quality information and education
- preventative medicine, including cancer screening programs
- thorough investigation of concerns, with tests and examinations if necessary
- comprehensive treatment options customised to an individual’s needs
- evidence-based management plans
- ongoing support
We want to provide quality primary health through a wellness model of medicine, not a sickness one. Wellness is a much better model but it’s not funded by the government,’ Dr Quin says.
A gap payment will be charged for each visit to the Women’s Wellness Clinic.
Dr Quin has been a Daylesford GP for 30 years, working concurrently for a decade with the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) in their remote and rural women’s health program. When RFDS clinics increased initial consultation times for remote women to 45 minutes, Dr Quin witnessed a positive change in the exchange of information and a marked improvement in women’s health and wellbeing.
She believes local women can benefit similarly from an expert sexual and reproductive health service that provides the time and support women need to have their issues properly addressed.
‘We will take into consideration the whole person. Maybe there’s something going on at home or specific demands on a woman. For many women, just having someone really listen to them can be a healing thing.’
‘The overwhelming positive response to our Allergy Desensitisation and Travel Health Clinics, all dedicated clinics with extended consultation times, has also convinced us of the need for a Women’s Wellness Clinic.’
Education will be a key focus of the Women’s Wellness Clinic. Knowing what’s normal can be difficult, particularly for adolescents. For example, body types promoted in pornography can be mistaken as the yardstick of what a female body should look like. Misinformation on the Internet and social media can also lead to confusion and a fear that a young woman’s normal healthy body is somehow ‘wrong’. The new Clinic will offer a confidential adolescent gynaecology service. Dr Quin says women of all ages may falsely believe that certain symptoms, discomfort or pain is something they just have to ‘suck up’.
The Women’s Wellness Clinic will offer women’s health checks and deal with issues including breast healthcare, bladder and bowel continence, contraception, fertility, sexual health, genital skin and vaginal conditions, period problems, bone health, endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome, and premenopausal and menopausal support.
In addition to the Women’s Wellness Clinic, Springs Medical will continue to support the wellness of women through its Cervical Screening Clinic and Put a Spring Into your Step (SIS) Wellness Program.
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Meet our Women's Wellness Clinic GPs
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Top left: Dr Ruth Spencer. Top right: Dr Beth Quin. Bottom left: Dr Falak Naz. Bottom right: Dr Kat Zabidi.
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I’m too busy; the doctor’s too busy; it’s embarrassing; I’m scared; my family comes before me; I don’t want to make a fuss; I’ve already consulted Dr Google; it’s probably nothing…
When women seek prevention and early intervention for issues relating to women’s health and wellness, they greatly increase the likelihood of having a better outcome.
Did you know more than half of local women fail to meet Australian cervical screening recommendations, meaning they could be at risk of cancer?
Dr Beth Quin says women in the Daylesford and Trentham regions are grossly underserviced when it comes to women’s cancer screening.
Changes to cervical screening in Australia are expected to protect up to 30 per cent more women. The two yearly Pap test has been replaced with a more accurate Cervical Screening Test every five years. While this should be very good news, Dr Quin says some women ‘save up’ women’s health concerns to discuss with their doctor at the time of screening and five years will be too long to wait.
According to Cancer Australia estimates, 258 women died from cervical cancer nationally last year with 930 Australian women diagnosed with the condition during the same period.
Springs Medical believes its commitment to women’s health through its new Women’s Wellness Clinic will bring better health outcomes and lead to an improved quality of life for many local women.
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Why you shouldn't leave your health to chance
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When Dr Ruth Spencer’s ‘baby’, the Women’s Wellness Clinic, opens in mid May, she’ll be preparing to go on maternity leave. Dr Spencer, who has a passion for women’s health, suggested the idea of a dedicated, premium clinic for women at Springs Medical 18 months ago. Since then, she and a committed team have been working hard to make their vision for the Clinic a reality.
Dr Spencer says the new Clinic will have an important role in the community because until now, much of the early detection of conditions in women has been ‘opportunistic’, rather than women seeking help about a problem.
‘When women were coming every second year for their Pap test, it was a great opportunity to pick up conditions affecting the vulva that were not causing any symptoms.’
She says increasing the national cervical screening schedule to every five years will mean ‘a big change in the ability to pick problems up opportunistically’.
‘When doing a cervical screening examination, I generally ask a woman questions about her pelvic floor and whether she is having continence or sexual function issues. It’s not what most women will bring up in conversation without being asked directly.
‘Chronic vulval skin conditions can cause serious problems if they are not detected and treated early. Some women think vulval discomfort and vaginal dryness are just part and parcel of being a woman, but there’re certainly things we can do to improve symptoms.
‘Menopause, for example, is a natural process not a disease. But there are many options, and not just HRT (hormone replacement therapy), to improve a woman’s comfort and quality of life.
‘Sometimes I come across perimenopausal (physical and emotional changes in the transition to menopause) women who have gone off contraception because they think they’re in a safe zone, when in fact they still could get pregnant and may not be prepared for dealing with that.’
Dr Spencer says in younger women particularly, a women’s health check can provide an important opportunity for her to offer screening for Chlamydia, which left untreated can make it difficult to become pregnant.
She hopes many local women will take advantage of the new service to have a women’s health check and a chat about any issues of concern. ‘We want women of all ages to make their health and wellbeing a priority.’
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Have you met our new doctors and medical students?
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Springs Medical is committed to medical education and each year welcomes new GP Registrars (fully qualified doctors who are completing their General Practice training) as well as medical students. The Springs Medical team is proud to introduce:
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Dr Samantha Axford
Sam was a dietician prior to attaining her medical degree at the University of Notre Dame Sydney. She did her junior medical training at Ballarat Base Hospital. She’s particularly interested in preventative medicine, paediatrics, women’s health and sexual health. Sam also enjoys cycling in the countryside and keeping active.
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Dr Sean McGrath
Originally from country NSW, Sean was a pharmacist prior to attaining his medical degree at Monash University. Sean did his hospital medical training at Bendigo Health and completed a Diploma in Child Health in 2017. Sean enjoys travelling, hiking and long-distance running.
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Rory Fairbairn (Student)
Rory left his family home in Point Lonsdale to study and work as a medical researcher in Hobart and Melbourne. He began postgraduate study in medicine in 2017 and has joined the Rural Community Clinical School in Daylesford for 2019. He is looking forward to exploring the Hepburn region’s national parks.
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Courtney Waugh (Student)
Raised on a NSW sheep station, Courtney studied forensic science and criminology at the Gold Coast before moving to Melbourne in 2015 as a policy adviser for the Department of Justice and Regulation. Courtney is now a medical student, finishing her studies through the Rural Community Clinical School. She loves the outdoors and is looking forward to immersing herself in the Daylesford community.
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Dr Greg Malcher retires this month after 11 years at Springs Medical and 32 years as a doctor in Daylesford. The SM team wishes Greg and his wife Sally (a former midwife) the very best for their retirement and will be working with Greg to ensure a smooth transition for patients. Greg and Sally will be doing the Larapinta Walk in September to raise funds for Motor Neurone Disease Victoria. Please click here to make a contribution.
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