210 The Entrance Road

ERINA NSW 2250  |   My AGPN Australia Postal Address: 210 The Entrance Road ERINA NSW 2250 Contact AGPN  |   NameSuite 4, Erina Plaza Goldfields Esperance GP Network Australia Email: Phone: 02 4365 2294 Fax: Website: http://www.ccdgp.com.au Division Number 611ccdgp@ccdgp.com.au Classification Rural02 4365 3836 Number of Member GPs 50 As one of Australia's fastest growing economic centres, the Central Coast is a region of accelerating retail, commercial, industrial and residential growth, with an approximate mean population growth of 1.5% per annum. State Western Australia Events  |   Links   Search  |   © Copyright 2007 Site Map  |   Help  |   Hot Issues Central Coast Division of General Practice (NSW) Physical Address: 31 Maritana Street KALGOORLIE WA 6430 Australia Postal Address: PO Box 4575 KALGOORLIE WA 6430 Australia Email: info@gegpnetwork.irg.au Phone: 08 9021 6610 Fax: 08 9021 6641 Website: http://www.gegpnetwork.org.au

The Division was formed in 1994 and has a main office in Kalgoorlie-Boulder (596km from Perth) and a satellite office in Esperance (394km from Kalgoorlie).  Project staff are employed throughout the region.

General Practitioners in the region work long hours with many (especially in solo GP communities) being on-call 24 hours per day.  The GP to patient ratio is well above the national average throughout the region, ranging from 1500-1999 in Esperance to 2500-9999 in some of the smaller towns.

The socio-demographics within the Eastern Goldfields region are quite diverse.  Long distances are common to all remote communities, however they can differ in function and infrastructure from being a coastal fishing port and harbour, farming community to a mining town or an Aboriginal Community.  The level of isolation and impact on health by environmental conditions is often more marked than seen in rural and metropolitan communities.  The low population density has important implications for the type and range of health services available, and for staff recruitment and retention.

The major industry of employment of residents in the Eastern Goldfields is mining (21%), retail (11.2%), property or business (7.8%).  The mining and service industry based workforce is predominantly transient, working long hours and travelling large distances.

The Division sets its goals by working collaboratively with key stakeholders including the Goldfields South East Health Region (GSEHR - Department of Health, Western Australia), Aboriginal Medical Services, community leaders, and other health and social service providers in the region.  Strong links are also essential with other organisations including the Rural Clinical School (RCS), Western Australian Centre for Remote and Rural Medicine (WACRRM), the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), General Practice Divisions of Western Australia (GPDWA), and the Australian Medical Association (AMA).

Major Achievements

• Diabetes in Aboriginal Communities
  A joint venture between the Division, Bega Garnbirringu Health Service (Kalgoorlie) and Ngangganawilli Aboriginal Controlled Health and Medical Service (Wiluna) to increase awareness and facilitate lifestyle behavioural changes to improve the management of diabetes and reduce risk factors for Aboriginal people.
  
• Mind Yourself
  Address curriculum deficits for social and emotional wellbeing of adolescent students attending Kambalda High School to enable them to seek assistance from parents, GPs and other professionals for issues pertaining to their social and emotional wellbeing. Knowledge and skills were gained about the impact of dysfunctional relationships, inappropriate anger management and mental illness on emotional and mental wellbeing. Activities to enhance communication skills, relaxation, motivation and self-esteem were an integral feature of the program.   This program was a Finalist at the 8th Annual Community Services Industry Awards 2002.
  
• IM/IT
  The idea of this program was to computerise all the practices in the region and the EGMDGP became one of the first regions nationally to be 95% computerized and uniquely the majority of the practices now use the same software.  This placed the Division in a great position to take on the Regional Reference Site for the Broadband Project and one of the original ideas of the project is to intranet all practices within the region, this will now be achieved through the Broadband project.
  
• Medical Student Program 
  The Division worked closely with the Western Australian Centre for Rural and Remote Medicine (WACRRM) for sixth year medical students who would visit the region for three weeks to gain experience in a remote setting and students spent one week with GPs, one week with Bega Garnbirringu Health Service Aboriginal Corporation, and the third week was made up for options to work with specialists, RFDS or Public Health.  The Division has since participated in establishing the Rural Clinical School (RCS), part of the University of Western Australia.  The RCS now provides services to both the Division and the General Practitioners in the training of medical students in the region with bases in Kalgoorlie-Boulder and Esperance.
  
• Regional Locum Program 
  This very successful program has been running since 1998 in conjunction with WACRRM and the Australian Medical Association (AMA) to provide GPs with locum services.
  
• Men's Health
  The program started in 1999 and then changed direction with the formation of Goldfields Men's Health Inc. which currently runs two very successful programs.  These include a research component into the effect of impact of industry work practices relating to the mining industry in the Goldfields, and the Men's Health Project which has a high profile promoting annual events which have become part of the community diary to promote men's health throughout our region.  
  
• Immunisation 
  This program has successfully improved the immunisation rate throughout the region to a 83.1%level and funding assistance was given by Rotary as a community service.
  
• Antenatal Shared Care (Esperance) 
  Esperance GPs, midwives and community members embraced the idea of a shared approach to antenatal care, modifying a previous Kalgoorlie model.  To date the program is receiving lots of positive feedback, with formal evaluation underway.
  
• More Allied Health Services (MAHS)
  Under the umbrella of MAHS are several programs and the program itself has been recognised for the provision of remote services and also data collection tools which were developed by the Division and which have been requested to be used as a framework by the Australian Government for other Divisions.   The program is also recognised for is collaborative nature using Memorandums of Understanding and Agreements with agencies such as Bega Garnbirringu, Goldfields South East Health Region, Nganganawilli Aboriginal Heath Services, Mid West Gascoigne Health Services and Goldfields Women's Health Service for the provision of allied health services.
  • CVD - Take Heart Programs for cardio-vascular rehabilitation have been successfully run in Esperance for some years with ongoing success.  The program has increased the awareness in the community of cardiovascular disease.  The program in collaboration with other agencies was recognised by the Heart Foundation in their annual awards.
  • MAHS Dietetics - Dietetics Clinics were run in the Kalgoorlie Boulder and the remote locations these included Bega Garnbirringu,  Wiluna, Leinster, Laverton, Leonora, With the inclusion of Bega Garnbirringu clinics, more ATSI clients have been seen and an increase from 33.3% to 55.5% in total took place.  Diabetes continues to be the most common presenting complaint.
  • MAHS Podiatry - Podiatry Clinics were run in the Kalgoorlie Boulder  at Bega Garnbirringu.
    and the remote locations, these included Bega Garnbirringu,  Wiluna, Leinster, Laverton, Leonora.
    Toenail and corn/callus problems are the most common presenting complaint in each of the remote areas.  Diabetes related concerns are the main reason for appointments at Bega Garnbirringu.
  • MAHS Physiotherapy Remote - These clinics were run in Laverton and Leonora. The most common presenting complaints were musculoskeletal.
  • Physiotherapy Pregnancy and Postnatal - 87.5% of all births at Kalgoorlie Regional Hospital are seen by Program staff. A further 10.7% of mothers who are discharged or transferred prior to being screened are sent pamphlets informing them of available outpatient services. Of the women screened 120 (21.2%) were categorised as at risk of post-natal problems and follow-up forms were obtained.
    
• Skin Cancer
  The program continued with the 'Sun Safe Campaign' which saw participation of students in years 8-10 from Esperance, and students in years 7-10 from Norseman.  The program was planned and implemented with students and the school/community nurse being the driving force in each school.  The Skin Cancer Program won an Excellence in Education Award for the Goldfields District Education Office.
  
• Chronic Disease 
  Extensive networking and consultative process have led to the development of a generic referral form for the Esperance Region, with a 3 month trial commencing in late 2003.  Following implementation and evaluation, this model will be adapted to suit other regions throughout the Goldfields and beyond. It will be added to the GP Resource Kit which is also in the development stage, and will be available in a virtual format for use in practices.
  
• Peer Support Program (Esperance) This education program provides rapid fire education sessions by a Psychiatrist and has gained recognition from the Department of Primary Mental Health Care and the University of Western Australia who recognised the innovativeness of the program as a training tool for doctors.
  
• Eastern Goldfields Regional Reference Site for Broadband Technology
  The EGMDGP has been chosen by the Australian Government's Department of Health and Ageing as Australia's only Reference Site for access to Broadband Technology for General Practitioners and associated health professionals. 
  The primary objective of the project is to test, measure and demonstrate through a detailed evaluation the benefits of health care providers having access to high speed, continuous, high quality broadband connectivity via a Virtual Private Network (VPN) through which they my effectively and securely access a range of relevant information and communication applications.
  The DoHA has contracted the services of the telecommunication provider IP Systems to implement the infrastructure required for the EGRRS initiative and once the VPN is fully operation the project will run for a period of 12 months.
  In scope for the project are 22 General Practices, 2 Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS), 5 Medical Specialists, 1 Regional Hospital and 4 District Hospitals.  The project has thus far secured the participation of 100% of the GP Practices, 100% of the ACCHS and 3 out of the 5 local Specialists.
  The Reference Site is expected to inform the Australian Government about future, connectivity, demand aggregation and adoption models for broadband technology across the Australian health sector.

Other achievements:

• Continuing collaboration and integration of programs between the Division, local communities and the health service providers in the region.
• Integrated GPs and Division programs with related service providers.
• Ongoing participation and support from GP members.
• Goldfields Bush Weekend or Esperance Weekend is part of the Education Program and is  always looked forward to with interest and anticipation. 

Challenges for the future:

• Recruitment and retention of GPs working in the remote environment of the Goldfields is an ongoing challenge of which continuing national initiatives can only enhance.
• Providing equitable health care in both regional and remote environments through the development of programs to enhance access to other services.
• Further consolidation of our programs in CPD, Workforce Support, Locum Provision, More Allied Health Services through out the communities of our region, Immunisation Cardiovascular Disease/Diabetes, Men's Health, Youth Health, Palliative Care, and the Broadband initiative.
• Maintaining GP input into local health initiatives.
• Maintaining the impetus of the Regional Eastern Goldfields Regional Reference Site for Broadband Technology to assist and inform the Australian Government about future, connectivity, demand aggregation and adoption models for broadband technology across the Australian health sector.