2006 News Archive
21 Dec 2006 Tips for a stress-free Christmas
Christmas is one of the peak stress-inducing times. How do you cope?
14 Dec 2006 Prime TV and Wave FM Post Natal Depression Community Service Announcement
The IDGP in conjunction with Prime TV and Wave FM have developed a community service announcement for TV and Radio that will air until the 31st December 2006. The ad encourages women to visit their GP if they are experiencing any symptoms associated with Post Natal Depression. For a list of local services and support groups that support women and men with Post Natal Depression please click on the link below.
06 Nov 2006 New Practice Nurse MBS item numbers
Practice Nurse MBS item numbers for cervical screening have been extended to all urban areas, and preventative health check item numbers have been added.
31 Oct 2006 NEW MBS ITEM
The new 45 Year Old Health Check MBS Item 717 is available as of Nov 1 2006.
16 Oct 2006 AIMHI MAIN STUDY NOW RECRUITING
The University of Wollongong's AIMHi project is now taking patients for the main study and is asking GPs to refer eligible patients.
13 Oct 2006 Information on "Better Access to Mental Health Care Initiative"
On Monday 9 October, the Australian Government announced the details of the new "Better Access to Mental Health Care Initiative". This provides MBS rebates for GP-referred Clinical Psychologist treatment for the first time, in an attempt to improve access for patients needing mental health assessment and care. For more information, follow the link below to the ADGP "Better Access to Mental Health Care Initiative" webpage: http://www.adgp.com.au/site/index.cfm?display=15577
12 Oct 2006 PUBLIC HEALTH ADVICE
Test results have confirmed that a brand of powder some people add to Asian cooking has led to the hospitalisation of five people in Sydney’s south west.
11 Oct 2006 NEW VACCINE INFORMATION SHEETS AVAILABLE
The National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS) has developed new vaccine information sheets. Click on the link below to view.
10 Oct 2006 PUBLIC HEALTH WARNING
5 people in Sydney have been hospitalised due to poisoning from 'Goldfish brand Nutre powder'
21 Sep 2006 Prime TV and Wave FM Separated Fathers CSA
The IDGP in conjunction with WAVE FM and PRIME TV have developed a community service announcement for radio and TV which encourages men who are having difficulties due to family separation to visit their GP. To access a range of local services and support groups that support men during family breakdown please click on the more information link below.
14 Sep 2006 CHANGES TO THE IM/IT PIP REQUIREMENTS
New requirements for the IM/IT PIP Incentive take place from November. Registration forms are to be sent to Medicare by SEPTEMBER 30 to register for the new PIP incentive. This MUST be done in order to receive payment for the November quarter. Click on read more for further information.
06 Sep 2006 WORLD SUICIDE PREVENTION DAY
Sunday September 10 is World Suicide Prevention Day
06 Sep 2006 COMMUNITY COMMITTEE NOMINATIONS NOW OPEN!
The Community Consultative Committee is made up of consumers and GPs who get together on a regular basis to discuss activities of the IDGP and to work to enhance health in our community. Nominations for four consumer represenatives to sit on this committeee are now open. Please contact the IDGP on 42267052 or click on the following more information link to down load and information pack.
04 Sep 2006 ASPREN
The Australian Sentinel Practices Research Network (ASPREN) is calling for expressions of interest from GPs who would be prepared to electronically submit de-identified patient data concerning influenza like illness on an ongoing basis. Click on read more for further information.
31 Aug 2006 SESIAHS e-mail configuration change
Important additional e-mail account configuration changes are needed, caused by the Area Health Service e-mail systems merge. Click on the Read More link for details.
30 Aug 2006 GP and Patient Teaching Partnerships an Exciting View to the Future of Medicine in the Illawarra
More than 60 GPs in the Illawarra region have enthusiastically agreed to supervise the first cohort of medical students studying through the Wollongong University Graduate School of Medicine (GSM). 80 students will begin their four year journey of learning and development at the GSM during phase 1 of the program beginning February 2007 with 56 of those to be placed in our Illawarra General Practices.
21 Aug 2006 SESIAHS e-mail
Update on the Area Health Service change from IAHS e-mail accounts to SESIAHS e-mail accounts, the changeover was delayed due to some technical difficulties at SESIAHS. The migration happened last night at which time we were in contact with SESIAHS IT department to check on the progress. The changes have been made on our server to allow the download of SESIAHS e-mails. All e-mails to IAHS e-mail addresses will be redirected to your new SESIAHS account. To send emails you will need to make some configuration changes. Click on the Read More link for details.
16 Aug 2006 IAHS e-mail changes.
South East Sydney Illawara Area Health (IT) advised the IDGP IT on Monday afternoon that they will be migrating there mail boxes to SESIAHS e-mail boxes on Wednesday night. We well be working back to test the migration and to reconfigure our servers to allow you to still retrieve your e-mails. If all goes well and you retrieve your e-mail via the IDGP you will notice no immediate difference and e-mails will send and receive ok. If you dial in to the Area Health service you will need to make some changes to the mail server you point to and we will publish some instructions by Thursday morning on this procedure. Each user will have a new e-mail account firstname.lastname@sesiahs.health.nsw.gov.au , I have been advised that there will be redirects on your existing e-mail accounts to the new one; we will publish instructions on changing the settings in your e-mail client in due course. The user name and password will be the same as now for your new account so you will be able to send and receive e-mails
19 Jul 2006 HMR News!
Again, the Illawarra Division of General Practices' HMR Project, driven by Karina Bronska, has reached an excellent amount of HMR claims for the January to March quarter 2006. 178 HMRs were claimed for by 42 GPs, placing the Illawarra second in NSW for HMR claims. Well done and keep up the good work!
18 Jul 2006 GPs Keeping Australia Healthy
Illawarra residents with diabetes are averaging $5360 annually in costs related to their health care (Diabcost, 2003). This figure increases up to $9645 annually for those people with multiple complications related to their condition. The Ausdiab study conducted in 2005 showed that 2 million Australians have pre-diabetes, with 275 people developing type 2 diabetes every day. GPs can play a key role in changing lifestyle factors for patients to reduce the burden of disease in our community. Focus on prevention of chronic diseases such as diabetes can reduce the cost to the individual and community as a whole.
27 Jun 2006 Mark Your Diary!
The Update Seminar 2006 will be held on 5 August at the University of Wollongong Function Centre. It will commence with lunch from 12 noon - 1 pm followed by 6 speakers updating on the latest developments in their field of expertise.
22 Jun 2006 Provision of Free Measles Vaccine - Advice from NSW Health
Until further notice, NSW Health will provide free MMR vaccine to GPs for use in ALL susceptible people. Click on read more to see who is considered to be susceptible and who should receive MMR vaccine.
15 Jun 2006 CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY SERVICE - Books Closing
Due to increasing demand, the IDGP's Clinical Psychology Service has regrettably been forced to close its books ...
08 Jun 2006 Access to Overseas Trained Doctors for all Illawarra Practices to address Workforce Shortages
At the time of this notice, Wednesday 7 June 2006, all Practices within the Illawarra Division of General Practice (Helensburgh to Gerringong) are considered eligible to apply for an extemption under section 19AB of the Health Insurance Act 1973 to employ overseas trained doctors as part of their District of Workforce Shortage status. This advice on the District of Workforce Shortage status is valid for a period of 3 months from the above date, and only relates to the employment of overseas trained doctors.
01 Jun 2006 HURRY! Broad Band for Health offer soon to end!
Broad Band for Health is a federal government incentive which is designed to assist general practitioners to gain access to high quality internet access. The BB4H program has been running for over 12 months and has been extended. The incentive provides funding for a security audit, setup and 12months of broad band internet connection.
31 May 2006 Osteoporosis and Falls Management Presentations available
Dr Jan Potter and Mr John Paul Troiani presented on Osteoporosis and Falls in residential aged care and behaviour management in residential aged care as part of the Aged Care Active Learning Module. If you would like to view their presentations
24 May 2006 Attn – All GP’s using IAHS e-mail accounts
SESIAHS is having problems with their e-mail access. There have been several problems with IAHS e-mail accounts in recent times, and the problems may continue for some time. The IDGP Helpdesk has solutions for 2 known problems. Click on 'read more' for these solutions.
23 May 2006 Provision of Free Measles Vaccine: Advice from NSW Health
Until further notice, NSW Health will provide free MMR vaccine to GPs for use in ALL susceptible people. Click on 'read more' to see who is considered to be susceptible and who should receive MMR vaccine.
10 May 2006 Division and Beaton Park Scholarship
A $1,000 scholarship provided by the Division of General Practice and Beaton Park Leisure Centre has been awarded to Leeah Ebbeck, a final year exercise science student working on the 'Exercise - Essential Medicine for Diabetes Program'.
03 May 2006 Osteoporosis and Falls Management in Residential Aged Care 25th May
Dr Jan Potter will be presenting case studies about osteoporosis and falls in residential aged care facilities and working with GPs to develop management strategies. Mr John Paul Troiani will also be discussing behaviour management in residential aged care facilities.
27 Apr 2006 Practice Nurse Incentive Payment windfall for the Illawarra!
All practices in the Illawarra region are set to benefit from the Commonwealth Government’s decision to extend the Practice Incentives Program (PIP) Practice Nurse Payment to all urban areas of workforce shortage.
26 Apr 2006 IDGP Community Service Annoucements to air from May 1
The IDGP in conjunction with Wave FM and Prime TV have developed a community service announcement (CSA) for radio and television which encourages young people to visit their GP if they have anxiety or depression and are concerned about their alcohol use. The CSA will be airing on Prime TV and Wave FM from May 1 2006.
01 Apr 2006 Mark Your Diary! GERIATRIC WORKSHOP
An interactive workshop for GPs linked to the Geriatric Active Learning Module and if combined with other sessions from this module, enrolled GPs will qualify to receive 30 points in Category QA&CPD program. To be held on 1 April 2006 at the University of Wollongong, Function Centre. Small groups of GPs will rotate through a series of booths. Each booth will be facilitated by a consultant who will provide a volunteer patient on the day or mannequins for CPR practice. Numbers strictly limited!
31 Mar 2006 Welcome back to our Psychologists!
The Illawarra Division of General Practice has finally completed minor office renovations to allow for our IDGP Psychology Service to return to our premises in Keira St Wollongong. The Psychologists were previously consulting at the Northfields Clinic at the UoW.
28 Feb 2006 Community Forum
Coming up in March 2006 . . . . . . Depression: Don’t let it get you down!! A local community forum on depression – the causes, impacts, strategies and coping skills for people in our community with depression and their carers. WHEN: Wednesday 1 March 2005, 4:30pm – 7pm, WHERE: Wesley Hall
20 Feb 2006 IDGP and Pacific Internet
Pacific Internet is the preferred internet service provider of the IDGP. The partnership has developed through the IDGP’s desire to deliver a better service to their members through the BB4H initiative. Members of the IDGP can use any Internet Service Provider and the IDGP will support all members. However, our relationship with Pacific Internet has allowed the development of an excellent internet enabling package within the BB4H funding.
