Travelling to access specialist services often places a large burden on patients in rural areas. Flying Doctor Telehealth offers the opportunity for patients to access specialist services without leaving their communities.
Flying Doctor Telehealth offers access to bulk billed endocrinology, respiratory, cardiology and psychiatry specialists on a secure platform. Features include an easy to-use online booking system, low wait lists and expert support from the Flying Doctor Telehealth team. The service is available to all GP practices, community and health services in rural Victoria at no cost. Click here to complete an expression of interest if you would like to find out more.
The Gardasil 9 vaccine, announced last year, will be introduced to the National Immunisation Program schedule from late January 2018 for adolescents in Year 7 of secondary school (or age equivalent 12 to 13 years old).
Availability of the vaccine is expected in late January once stock has been cleared by the TGA and transferred to Onelink. The vaccine order form will be updated at this time and immunisation providers will be notified by email so they can place an order. Until this time only Gardasil will be available to order after discussion with the immunisation section for people completing a vaccine course.
Treating HIV and Hepatitis B in general practice blood borne viruses
Did you know that HIV and Hepatitis B can be safely treated and effectively managed in general practice? Many patients do not need a referral to a specialist and can be cared for by a local GP with s100 accreditation, negating the need for potential long trips and waits at hospital clinics.
To find out if there is an accredited GP close to you, go to
Hepatitis B community prescribers or
HIV community prescribers. If you would like to know more about the program, or if you are a GP interested in becoming a s100 prescriber
click here or contact e:
Julie.brock@nwmphn.org.au or t: 03 8578 0536.
Cervical screening self-sampling now available cancer screening
VCS Pathology will be the first pathology service in Australia to begin testing self-collected samples from eligible women under the renewed National Cervical Screening Program. This initiative will enable women who avoid Pap smears to take the sample themselves to access lifesaving cervical screening tests.Self-sampling is available to women who are at least 30 years old and who are under-screened (four years or more since last Pap test) or have never been screened and who decline a practitioner-collected specimen. Instructions for practitioners are available
here.
End of grass pollen monitoring season thunderstorm asthma
To coincide with the end of grass pollen season, Victoria's epidemic thunderstorm asthma forecasting system ceased delivering forecasts on 31 December 2017. Epidemic thunderstorm asthma forecasts will resume at the start of the 2018 Victorian grass pollen season on 1 October 2018.
Victoria's Chief Health Officer, Professor Charles Guest, says the end of the risk of the grass pollen season for 2017 does not mean people with asthma or hay fever should be complacent when it comes to their asthma management and symptom control. For more information on thunderstorm asthma and asthma first aid click here.
