Latest news

25 August 2022

Deciphering the MBS for Practice Managers

• administrative billing of multiple items
• annotation when claiming; preventing rejections
• PRODA
• MBS programs available to general practice
• the role of the Practice Manager in guiding GPs in relation to billing
• dressings and consumables - covering the costs
• and a 2022 MBS update.

Little Lungs – Paediatric Asthma Update

• identify the steps involved in the diagnosis of paediatric asthma – referring to the Australian Asthma Handbook
• describe the management of asthma across the different ages in children
• summarise the important information to be included in a written asthma action plan
• define the steps in managing acute asthma in primary care.

Alcohol and Other Drugs Learning Platform for health professionals

Case Conferencing in Primary Care and Residential Aged Care Facilities

Asthma in Spring - allergies and thunderstorms

North Western Melbourne PHN
 

Presented by the National Asthma Council, this session focuses on springtime asthma and allergic rhinitis and how to manage both conditions, using the latest evidence-based guidelines. Thunderstorm asthma is a springtime phenomenon that all health professionals in primary care need to be prepared for. 

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• describe the association between allergic rhinitis and asthma
• summarise the treatment guidelines for allergic rhinitis
• describe those at greater risk of thunderstorm asthma and the guidelines for management
• summarise the importance of written asthma action plans and asthma first aid in thunderstorm asthma season.

Clinical Vaccinology Update (CVU) mini virtual event
 

In light of the latest recommendations from ATAGI on COVID-19 vaccine use in young children, please join us for our next Clinical Vaccinology Update (CVU) mini COVID-19: infection and vaccines in children aged 6 months and over.
 
This webinar will provide an update on the COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for Australian children over 6 months, the safety profile of COVID-19 vaccines in children, and discussions around the logistics of the vaccine rollout in this age group.

 

Community Wound Issues in General Practice
 

Join a Q&A with Jan Rice, Wound Care Consultant in the upcoming webinar on Community Wound Issues in General Practice.

This session will cover: 
 

• Wound assessment
• Selecting products to manage the wound
• Wound infection prevention and treatment 
• Compression therapy and surgical wound dehiscence

 
In our current environment there are many considerations to be made when managing wounds: should the patient keep coming back to clinic or can we teach them how to manage and we monitor remotely?

Victorian Statewide Voluntary Assisted Dying Care Navigators (VAD)

Ethics and Voluntary Assisted Dying in Victoria


Join this 1.5 hour panel discussion - three case studies will be presented and discussed that explore ethical challenges that can arise within families, within organisations and for healthcare professionals.

Panel members

• Professor Clare Delaney - Clinical Ethicist and Acting Academic Director Bioethics Centre
• Associate Professor Phillip Parente, Medical Oncologist, Master of Health and Medical Law and Master Human Rights Law
• Sandi Olney, Palliative Care Clinical Nurse Consultant and Nurse Practitioner Candidate
• Susan Jury – Voluntary assisted dying care navigator and clinical nurse consultant

Voluntary Assisted Dying Care Navigators – How to respond to a first request?
 

It can be difficult to know what to say or do when a patient or client speaks to you about Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD).  This webinar aims to inform health professionals what constitutes a ‘First Request’ for VAD, and what your options and obligations are if you are faced with this situation.
 

Introduction to point-of-care ultrasound (RACGP)

Point-of-care ultrasound is an increasingly affordable and efficient diagnostic tool in general practice, particularly in areas with limited access to specialist services.
 
The full-day workshop will increase your understanding of the application of point-of-care ultrasound in diagnostic process.

DOWNLOAD FLYER
 

Make the link: chronic kidney disease, diabetes and cardiovascular disease

Eastern Melbourne PHN
 

Chronic kidney disease (CKD), rarely occurs in isolation and frequently occurs alongside diabetes and cardiovascular disease, both which are each independently serious diseases, affecting millions of Australians.
 
For persons with existing diabetes and/or cardiovascular disease, developing chronic kidney disease causes a reduction in quality of life, on top of increased risks of complications, hospitalisations and death.
 

Hot topic: A free public webinar on menopause and how to manage
 

The Victorian Women's Health Services, Epworth Hospital, Victorian Women's Trust and the Women's Spirit Project are pleased to offer a free panel discussion via webinar for ​a diverse audience. We invite people experiencing menopause, community and practitioners in healthcare, health promotion and community services staff to attend this webinar. Join us seeking to increase your knowledge of menopause, its impacts on women and how it can be better managed.
 

Paediatric Palliative Care (GRPCC)
 

This Paediatric Palliative care education is for all health professionals in hospital and community services that provide care for seriously ill children and their families.
 
It is a blended learning approach where participants are required to complete eLearn modules prior to face-to-face interactive workshop.

DOWNLOAD FLYER
 

Annual Clinical Vaccinology Update (CVU)

The annual MVEC Clinical Vaccinology Update (CVU) is an opportunity for healthcare professionals to come together to hear from leading experts on the latest developments and trends in immunisation.
 
The face-to-face event will provide professional development delivered via keynote sessions and interactive breakouts, as well as the opportunity to connect and network with peers.
 

ThinkGP – Mental Health skills training for GPs
 

Mental health issues are a key health concern for young people in Australia, with the incidence of mental health conditions in young people on the increase with one in four young people suffering from mental health related challenges.

R U OK? Day will take place on 8 September 2022, encouraging people to stay connected and have conversations that can help others through difficult times in their lives.

If you are an Australian GP, you are able to access the additional mental health MBS item numbers (2715 and 2717) by completing the Mental Health Skills Training (Modular Pathway), which requires both a Mental Health Skills Training Core Module and one Clinical Enhancement Module to be completed.

To ensure your activity is reported to Medicare, please check that your Medicare Provider Number is up to date in your college database.
See further instructions for RACGP members
 

SaferFamilies - domestic and family violence training

Pivoting to the perpetrator: How to engage with patients who use domestic and family violence is the topic for this training from SaferFamilies.
 
The training is for general practitioners and other primary care providers to enhance knowledge and confidence to safely engage with people who use domestic and family violence.
 
Part 1 is the introduction level and Part 2 the advanced level. CPD points available.
 

Immunisation Skills Workshop (Melbourne Vaccine Education Centre)
 

MVEC are pleased to offer our newest immunisation education opportunity – a unique bespoke small group opportunity to upskill providers on the principles and processes of managing:

• effective vaccine communication
• error prevention and management
• anaphylaxis and acute stress responses.

In this face-to-face workshop, designed specifically in a small-group learning format to maximise learning, attendees will hear from immunisation experts and have the opportunity to put their learnings into practice through participation in simulated scenarios.

Family Violence AOD Community of Practice
 

The Victorian Government has provided support to VAADA to administer a fully-funded, centralised workforce development program for the AOD sector until December 2022. This training and professional development program - Elevate! - is available to all AOD workforce currently employed within funded AOD services across Victoria. 

The modules cover a shared understanding of family violence, an introduction to MARAM and the assessment tools, the Structured Professional Judgement model, risk assessment, risk management including working with specialist family violence services and safety planning.

For details go to eLearn: MARAM Brief and Intermediate eLearn course for practitioners working with victim survivors.

Interactive workshop in suicide first aid

Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) is a two-day interactive workshop in suicide first aid.

ASIST teaches participants to recognise when someone may be at risk of suicide and work with them to create a plan that will support their immediate safety. Although ASIST is widely used by healthcare providers, participants don’t need any formal training to attend the workshop.
 

Mental Health Victoria - training and development

Mental Health Victoria has partnered with Fundamental Training and Development to offer a series of courses that build leadership skills with a special focus on mentally healthy practice.

You can foster your leadership skills with ‘Leading others through change’, build on your existing leadership practice with ‘Resilience building’ and ‘Courageous conversations’ and prepare to lead change in your organisation with ‘ChangeAbility’.
 

Mental Health Victoria - Continuing Professional Development points

Mental Health Victoria is presenting a new set of accredited training and courses that allow accrual of Continual Professional Development (CPD) points.

In partnership with Suicide Programs, MHV is now offering ‘Accidental Counsellor’, a program that provides participants with an understanding of the counselling process and strategies for dealing with people in crisis.

For those looking to improve their awareness and ability to respond to people considering suicide, MHV now offers CALM Suicide Intervention Training. This short course, as well as ‘Accidental Counsellor’, allows accrual of CPD points.

In accredited training, MHV is joining with the Health Issues Centre in offering a Graduate Certificate in Consumer and Community Engagement and for those beginning their journey as a leader in the lived experience space, ‘Consumer Leadership’.
 

Health Complaints Commissioner - training courses

The Health Complaints Commissioner is still providing two online modules, the General Code of Conduct and Health Records.

You can access the list of available seminars here. All training and education seminars are free to attend and are currently delivered in an online environment.
 

Standby Support After Suicide
 

Standby Support after Suicide is a national suicide postvention service that provides practical support to anyone who has been bereaved or impacted by suicide, at any stage in their life. This includes individuals, families, friends, witnesses, first responders, service providers, groups and communities.
 
This free service is delivered in Gippsland by Jesuit Social Services.
 
StandBy is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week, providing free face-to face and/or telephone support at a time and place that is best for each individual 1300 727 247 or email standby.easternmelbourne&gippsland@jss.org.au
 

How do you know it's an eating disorder?

 Listen to How do you know it's an eating disorder? - Butterfly Foundation to learn more about what is – or isn’t – an eating disorder
 

Eating Disorder Core Skills

The Eating Disorder Core Skills training has been developed specifically for mental health professionals. It is evidence-based, nationally recognised and free to access here.
 
This training builds on National Eating Disorders Collaboration (NEDC) Core Skills series, the first of which was accredited Eating Disorder Core Skills: eLearning for GPs, developed for GPs and accessible here.

Search the interactive national database of credentialed mental health professionals and dietitians with expertise in treating eating disorders here.

Grief, Loss and Bereavement webinar
 

The Grief, Loss and Bereavement webinar education package comprises four pre-recorded education sessions, which will be released weekly on the Gippsland Region Palliative Care Consortium website from August.

These sessions will be complemented by an experiential online workshop in September that will allow for the trialling of some practical strategies and the development of an individualised self-care plan, plus a Q&A session later in September. This workshop will also be available on the website.

DOWNLOAD FLYER
 

Child safety and wellbeing training
 

The Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association (APNA) is working with the Victorian Department of Education and Training - Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS) to improve child safety and wellbeing and family violence outcomes.

This is being done by improving information sharing across sectors including primary health care. This 30-minute lunchtime information session is titled CISS Project Education Information Session #3 Child Information Sharing - How it works in Practice.

Butterfly Foundation professional development - term 2 virtual workshops

Register now for one of the Butterfly Foundation term 2 small group, interactive, professional development virtual workshops. 

Sessions include: Let’s talk body confident children and teens, body Image and boys for educators, body esteem educator training and understanding eating disorders in young people.

Murra Mullangari:
Introduction to Cultural Safety and Cultural Humility

This course is appropriate for practising nurses and midwives from all career stages, clinical and non-clinical roles and backgrounds who may or may not have built an understanding of Cultural Safety and/or Cultural Humility.

The cost of the program is $495 (inc GST) which allows access to approximately eight hours of self-paced online learning and reflection activities.

New free Microcredential training

Women’s Health Victoria and 1800 My Options have announced some training news.

A new free Microcredential is now available on their learning platform.

This free two-hour Microcredential is the perfect professional development opportunity for health professionals, support workers and interested students to build their knowledge around abortion, contraception and sexual health care access in Victoria.

To access WHV's existing suite of online training, including flexible online courses and a suite of Gender Equity and Workplace Equity Microcredentials, visit the website

Primary health care and palliative care

Caresearch, a palliative care knowledge network, has developed a hub that provides evidence based guidance including triggers for consideration and recommendations for action, for health professionals working within primary care.

Visit Primary Health Care - Settings of Care - Health Professionals (caresearch.com.au) and learn about Pathways and Frameworks, roles in palliative care and multidisciplinary teams.
 

Pathways to Safety training program promotion in Gippsland

This domestic and family violence training is available for primary care providers in Gippsland. 

The 'Pathways to Safety' training program strengthens the capacity of primary care providers to effectively recognise, respond and refer domestic and family violence. 

• Self-directed e-learning nodules
• Online workshops and virtual classrooms
• RACGP Webinar series

Improving clinical psychology competencies in working with older adults in Rural Residential Aged Care Facilities

This series of workshops has been developed to upskill psychologists working in regional and rural Victoria to work therapeutically with aged care residents.
 
Each workshop will comprise a one-hour webinar followed by a one-hour peer supervision discussion.

The workshops aim to provide psychologists with opportunities to improve their competence and confidence in working with older adults, enhance peer networking opportunities, and provide aged care residents greater access to evidence based mental health interventions.

Digital Health training

New My Health Record eLearning Modules

The Digital Health Agency has launched two new eLearning modules for healthcare providers:

• Using My Health Record in Nursing (2021)
• Electronic Prescriptions in Community Pharmacy

These CPD accredited activities are practical, tailored and self-paced.

Promoting participation in the National Immunisation Program

ONLINE AND FACE-TO-FACE

For:

ONLINE COURSE:

Promoting Participation in the National Immunisation Program

Further information contact: 
courses@benchmarquegroup.com.au

Culturally Responsive Practice with Older People in Health and Aged Care Course

This online course with the Migrant and Refugee Health Partnership outlines appropriate clinical practice for working with aged care recipients from CALD backgrounds, targeting clinicians and health practitioners working in health and aged care settings.
 
Participation in this training may attract CPD for participants. Read details about the material in the flyer outline.

A systemic approach to Investigating Symptoms of Lung Cancer

In collaboration with Cancer Australia and clinical experts in lung cancer, Lung Foundation Australia has developed a free, accredited eLearning course for primary care health professionals based on Investigating Symptoms of Lung Cancer: a guide for all health professionals

A systematic approach to investigating symptoms of lung cancer is accredited for 40 RACGP CPD points.

Foundations of Chronic Disease program

The Benchmarque Group has recently launched its new free online-only Foundations of Chronic Disease program.

Delivered completely online, the program is aimed at a range of health professionals working within Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Health or have Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander clients, and is estimated to take less than 10 hours to complete.

 

Topics include Nutrition, Foot Health and Chronic Disease care planning.

Completing the Foundations of Chronic Disease Program will enable students to register directly into these programs once they are available.

READ MORE 

Rural Workforce Agency of Victoria Scholarship

Focussed psychological strategies skills training for general practitioners.

RACGP and the Rural Workforce Agency of Victoria (RWAV) are offering 100 scholarships to Victorian GPs in Modified Monash Model (MMM) 3-7 and GPs working in an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation in (MMM) 1-2 + (MMM) 3-7  locations to complete Focussed Psychological Strategies Skills Training (FPS ST).

GPs can apply for this fully subsidised training by submitting an expression of interest on the RACGP website.
 
For further queries and information contact RACGP 1800 472 247

• ONLINE - Cancer Council - 60min module
  Talking to patients about health and weight 
   
• PODCAST - Dementia in Practice
  Dementia in Practice: Now we’re talking!
   
• eLEARNING for GPs - National Eating Disorder Collaboration
  Eating Disorder Core Skills
   
• COURSE - ACRRM
  Pre-Hospital Emergency Care
  Transgender Primary Care
   
• ONLINE - Asthma Australia
  Online Spirometry Training
   
• ONLINE - Centre for Excellence in Rural Sexual Health
  CERSH: Facets of Rural Sexual Health - 12 Modules 
   
• Webinars and other online learning through the Victorian-Tasmanian PHN Alliance can be accessed here.

See Gippsland PHN Events calendar for further details and registration for all events