News

The Australian Government has announced the implementation of the new John Flynn Prevocational Doctor Program to help deliver increased rural primary care rotations for eligible junior doctors from clinical year 2024 onwards. The Rural Generalist Pathway WA Coordination Unit will be administering these new rotations and invites eligible primary care providers in MM 2-7 locations to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI). Primary Care Providers will receive a clinical supervision and support payment. Eligible primary care providers include: General Practices Aboriginal Medical Services Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations. For additional information and the EOI form, please contact the Rural Generalist Pathway WA Coordination Unit…

Our South West Health Professionals Network program officer Sally visited Margaret River practices this week to thank local health professionals for their service during COVID-19. Sally delivered thank you gift hampers to the practices, which included SWHPN cookies handmade by local baker The Little Cakery. Sally will be visiting other South West towns in the near future to say thank you, and we look forward to hosting our South West networking and education events again soon. Some of the practices visited include: River Dental, Margaret River Surgery, Mirrambeena Residential Care, Mark Nathan Dentistry and Margaret River Orthodontics.

The Australian Government has expanded the Aged Care Nursing Scholarship Program and introduced Allied Health Dementia Care Scholarships. 1,500 new scholarships will be available to enrolled and registered nurses, personal care workers and allied health professionals. A guaranteed number of scholarships will be available for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Scholarship recipients will also be eligible for a completion bonus on successfully finishing their course. These scholarships include, for example, the study areas of: palliative and dementia care infection prevention and control leadership and management. Applications for Semester One close on 5 May 2022. Find out more on the Australian College…

A 'Caring for COVID-19 positive people in your region' resource page has been developed by WA Primary Health Alliance, providing clinical and social resources for the management of COVID-19 positive people in the South West. Click here to view the website.

Quit Centre is a new evidence-based portal developed by and for health professionals to support their patients’ smoking and vaping cessation. Funded by the Australian Government, Quit Centre will develop and disseminate training and resources which are designed to enable primary health professionals to provide smoking and vaping cessation support as part of their routine care. The online training for health professionals is accredited for CPD, free, easy to navigate and includes referral pathways to Quitline. https://www.quitcentre.org.au/online-training

Launching TODAY, 'Manage My Care' is WA Health’s first patient facing app and web portal that gives patients and carers 24-hour access to their public outpatient appointments and referrals. Users can: view upcoming outpatient appointments; view outpatient referrals; update their demographic and Next of Kin details; and receive email reminders of upcoming appointments. Manage My Care can be downloaded as a free app from the App Store or Google Play or accessed with an internet browser by clicking here.

The data from these surveys is crucial for Rural Health West and is used for needs assessment, service planning, CPD planning, reporting and research. LINKS GP: www.ruralhealthwest.com.au/online-survey NMDAH: https://www.ruralhealthwest.com.au/health-survey *please note, the surveys require a a unique ID code that has already been emailed to you. If you do not have your ID code or you are experiencing problems logging in, please email the Rural Health West Data Team at database@ruralhealthwest.com.au or call us on 6389 4500.

The Health Professionals Networks and partners have determined that the SWHPN Health Forum should not proceed as planned on 20 February 2022. You will be aware that the next few months are critical for Western Australia’s health system as it prepares for increasing rates of COVID-19 infections across the State. During this time, it will be critical to limit the opportunity for COVID-19 to spread to country communities and also to reduce potential exposure of our rural health professionals to infection. The SWHPN will continue to connect local health professionals in 2022 with small, outdoor, town-specific networking events. Follow the…

Radiance will be commencing a free support group in Term 1 2022, with locations in Bunbury, Busselton, Collie and Margaret River. The Radiance Network Support groups aim to help women build resilience and improve emotional wellbeing, support building a relationship in the first months of parenthood between new mothers and their babies, and for women to meet new friends in a welcoming and relaxed environment. Please contact Anne McKay from Radiance with any queries: 0490 094 994