Name New England Division of General Practice Division Number 227 Classification Rural Number of Member GPs 64 State New South Wales Year Established 1993 Number of Member Practices 25 Postcodes Covered 2350, 2351, 2354, 2358, 2359, 2360, 2361, 2365, 2369, 2370, 2371, 2372, 2403, 2410, 2457, 2458, 2470. Population 65,978 (2001 Census) Area Covered The Division covers the area from Tenterfield in the north to Uralla in the south and west to Inverell and Bundarra. It also includes the towns of Ashford, Emmaville, Glen Innes, Tingha, Guyra and Armidale, and covers an area of 33,442 square kilometres. CEO Sally Armitage Chair Dr Paul Kennedy Physical Address: 210A Rusden Street ARMIDALE NSW 2350 Australia Postal Address: PO Box 1321 ARMIDALE NSW 2350 Australia Email: sarmitage@nedgp.org.au Phone: 02 6771 1146 Fax: 02 6771 1170 Website: http://www.nedgp.org.au

The New England Division of General Practice was formed as an association of primary care medical practitioners in the former New England District Health Service united with the aims of:

• providing educational and practical support for the optimal delivery of primary health care in the Division area
• facilitating links between General Practitioners and other health care professionals throughout the Division, and
• promoting research projects into issues that relate to rural general practice

The Division continues to run and enhance the Cardiac Rehabilitation Program and the Diabetes Management program, expanding them to other centres. Planning for this has opened new contacts with allied health workers within the hospital and community health systems, as well as others in private practices such as podiatrists, therapists and dietitians. Contacts are being strengthened between the Division and consumer associations and individual GPs. The immunisation program is proving successful in establishing links between the Division and Practice staff. The Locum relief scheme is to continue to provide relief for the more isolated GPs and show others interested in rural practice within the Division that they can be provided with an opportunity to get away for recreational and study leave. The CME program continues to provide easy access to quality postgraduate education from top presenters and experts in various fields.

MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS

• Active and interested membership.
• Successful programs run and continuing to run.
• GP involvement in committees and activities in Area Health.

CHALLENGES FOR THE FUTURE

• Maintain and improve current high standards.
• Develop new programs and obtain funding for them.
• More involvement between Division and Area Health.
• Increase number of GPs involved in Division's activities.