CURRENT PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS

Youth Health Outreach

This program seeks to engage with young people on a range of health, sexual drug and other issues across four sites in the ACT. These are a Young Parents group, a health service for marginalised young people, and GP contact/counselling services at a local high school and Secondary college. The broad purpose of these separate initiatives is to link young people to mainstream General Practice surgeries and seek to provide immediate support with a view to establishing long term relationships between the young person and General Practitioners in Canberra. The GPs that operate these separate services do not prescribe or provide treatment but rather specifically aim to link them to an appropriate GP that meets their needs. The program has been operating successfully for two to three years in partnership with ACT Community Care.

Diabetes

The ACTDGP Miniclinic Program has now become part of the ACT Diabetes Service. In an example of primary care integration the ACTDGP is now in partnership with ACT Community Care and Diabetes Australia, ACT to form the ACT Diabetes Service. The Diabetes Service provides all diabetes related allied health care and has now been operating for a period of 16 months. As part of the service the ACTDGP continues to operate the Diabetes Miniclinic Program. This program works on the premise of taking the diabetes education service to the patient in the General Practitioner's surgery. The program has operated successfully with a core of interested GPs for the past three years. The challenge now is to more effectively integrate the ACT Diabetes Service operations with General Practice (the largest provider of diabetes services in the ACT). Development work is underway that seeks to address this challenge as phase two of establishing an effective diabetes service in the ACT.

Enhanced Primary Care Program

This program focuses on providing the necessary support and education to General Practitioners and practice staff in the use of the new MBS item numbers. In addition there will be activities focused on the other professional groups that are integral to the successful usage of these items in improving patient care. The program is overseen by a committee of general practitioners and relevant stakeholders. Activities for the program thus far have included:

• The development of a comprehensive users manual plus a quick reference guide to the item numbers.
• The distribution of the manual and guide to all ACT GPs.
• An educational evening for all GPs in the ACT.
• Development of a series of educational workshops in conjunction with other stakeholders.
• The establishment of a hotline for GPs to contact regarding any issue in the use of the new MBS items.
• Availability of individual support to all General Practices in the ACT should this be required.

Benzodiazapine Dependency Trial

This trial has been operating in collaboration with the Medicare Australia since late 1998. The purpose of the trial is to seek to find ways of effectively supporting high users of benzodiazapine drugs in the ACT. The manner in which this was conducted was through a process of identification against strict criteria through the usage of Medicare Australia data. The individuals identified were contacted via mail with an explanation of the program and the offer to discuss the issues with project staff. The trial seeks to manage benzodiazapine use through a process of identifying one GP who will manage the individual's medication and be sent the relevant patient data regarding usage by the Medicare Australia. This is all managed through a strict process of informed consent. To date approximately 50 patients are enrolled in the trial and the process of data collection, which only commenced late last year, continues. Results are expected late in 2000.

Immunisation

The ACTDGP Immunisation program focuses on providing a range of support initiatives to General Practices in the ACT and Queanbeyan. These efforts have focused on a process of education and clinical audit during 2000. The education efforts have included information sessions on the new immunisation schedule and the impact of the GST on GPII. In addition there has been a focus on encouraging practices to enroll for the GPII. The audit process aims to provide support to GPs by identifying children that still require immunisation and also to provide clean data to the ACIR database. The work undertaken this year has shown a significant discrepancy between the ACIR records and GP records on the levels of immunisation. The program has operated throughout 2000 at a high level of activity.

Mental Health

The ACTDGP Mental Health Program is one of the current major initiatives in 2000. These include:

• Monthly Mental Health Seminar Series.
• Consumers as Tutors program that will see mental health consumers providing tutoring to GPs on mental health assessment. This is being run in collaboration with the ACT Mental Health Service and the ACT Mental Health Foundation Network.
• SPHERE - this education program from the University of NSW provides a more in depth approach to GP education on issues of psychological management in a modular education format. This program will be offered to General Practitioners twice in 2000.
• General Practice/Crisis Assessment and Treatment Team Program - this program has four GPs working as part of the ACT Mental Health Service Crisis Team on a sessional basis. The aim is to improve liaison between service providers and develop skills.
• The Tuggeranong Project - this pilot project will provide psychiatric support to GPs in the management of their mental health patients. The focus will be on the GP continuing to manage their patients with readily available dedicated psychiatry support.
• Beyond the Boundaries Mental Health Conference - this conference is being developed and run in collaboration with the South East NSW Division and will focus on primary mental health care management.
• Young People Who Self Harm Project - this collaborative project with Calvary Hospital is seeking to develop a universal protocol that will guide the care and management of young people who self harm for all potential care providers both government and non government in the ACT. The working group for the project has over 20 separate agencies represented around the table.

HIV/AIDS Program

This program provides support and medical care to people with HIV/AIDS in the ACT through a local General Practice surgery. The program represents an exemplar of how complex services can be delivered very effectively in the primary care setting for a discrete client group. The program has been operating for over six years on a very restricted budget to over 200 HIV positive people in the ACT. It should be noted that this service is provided in lieu of a more extensive public sector program.

Information Technology

The ACTDGP provides a comprehensive program of Information Technology (IT) support to General Practitioners and their staff. The program offers a range of services through a discrete Outreach Program and IT Education Program that includes;

• Support with hardware and software issues in the practice.
• Advice on equipment purchases.
• A brokering service for new equipment, software purchases.
• A range of over 20 separate education modules.
• Education in a variety of modes - group learning, individual education sessions and self directed learning.
• A program of active IT audit that seeks to encourage GPs, that where computerised, to have effective systems in place i.e. back up systems and virus detection programs.

In addition the ACTDGP is involved in number of local projects that seek to investigate and possibly implement new

IT solutions to health communication and support. One of these is the Facilitating Medication Management Program. This partnership with The Canberra Hospital is seeking solutions that address how best to harness IT so that it enhances General Practice and how to improve the IT interface between General Practice and the hospital through IT. This project aims to have information about a patient's medications transferred securely in electronic form between the GP/hospital and vice versa. It forms part of a range of initiatives currently underway in the ACT.

Other Programs and Projects

• Divisional Newsletter
• Women's leadership Program
• Practice Accreditation advice service
• Practice Policy Manual service
• Local Area Networks
• A support program for practice nurses

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