CURRENT PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS

• Infrastructure - Management
• Infrastructure - Community Liaison
• GP Education and Support - CME
• GP Education and Support - Rural Workforce Issues
• GP Education and Support - Information Technology/Information Management (IT/IM)
• GP Education and Support - Enhanced Primary Care (EPC)
• Mental Health / Youth Health
• Injury
• Immunisation
• TRID Adolescent Health Project
• National Prescribing Service

Relationship/Links with the Regional Area Health Authority
The Barossa Division is located within two regional health services - Wakefield and Hills Mallee Southern. We share boundaries with five Local Government Authorities.  Through developing an active relationship with the regional health boards over the years, they are very aware of the Division and are constantly encouraged to consult the Division on local health matters.  By consulting the GPs regularly we are now achieving collaborative health care services for the community.  The Division attends bi-monthly meetings with both regional health boards.

Joint Activities
The Division also attends bi-monthly meetings with its five neighbouring Divisions.
TRID (Tri Divisions) meetings - held bi-monthly with representatives from the Barossa, Mid North and the Yorke Divisions of General Practice.  The objective is to address issues affecting the decision making within the Wakefield Regional Health (WRH) service.  The WRH Forum follows the TRID meetings and is attended by the General Manager, Chairman, etc from the WRH service.

ING (Interdivisional) meetings - held bi-monthly with representatives from the Barossa, Adelaide Hills, Murray Mallee and rural section of Southern Divisions of General Practice.  Also in attendance are the General Manager, Planning Officer, medical nominee, primary health care representative and a consumer representative from the Hills Mallee Southern Regional Health Service.

These meetings are breaking down the barriers between GPs, allied health professionals, consumers and the health administrators of the region.  Advice is sought from Divisions and the GPs that they represent.  The Division is invited to attend and participate on both the Wakefield and the Hills Mallee Southern Strategic Planning forums and is asked to review the draft plans before completion.

The Division also has GP representation on a range of regional sub-committees including:

• Older Persons Liaison
• Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service
• Health Promotion
• Acute Services
• Domestic Violence
• Cancer Support
• Rape and Sexual Assault

The Barossa has developed a cooperative approach with the local health services and shares program activities with the Barossa Area Community Health Sercive (BACHS) and their projects "Sun Smart in the Vines" and "Be Safe in the Home". The Division frequently organises the events and provides the GP personnel for joint activities.

In addition the Barossa Division was involved in three Statewide rural projects during the past 20 months - Major Trauma, Mental Health Case Conferencing and SA Farm Injury.  These have all been well received by the Division despite many funding problems with the projects.  The Division has developed strong links with the other Divisions involved as well as links with SA Divisions of General Practice (SADI) and SARRMSA.  These projects have profiled the work done by Divisions at the State and National level.

Needs Assessment
In October 1999 the Division distributed a Needs Survey to 32 GP members.  24 GPs (75%) completed and returned their survey with an additional 4 GPs returning the CME portion only.

The results were collated and are used as an ongoing tool to guide the direction of event planning in implementing activities.  Several emerging issues were:

• Accreditation
• PIP
• Financial and practice management assistance - staff rosters, financial planning, OnLine banking
• GST

The GPs reiterated the need for the Division to remain small but active with a gentle reminder that GPs have other demands in their lives beyond the surgery door. The GPs were particularly keen to participate in the Community Liaison Program as they enjoy leaving the surgery and getting out with the community.  There was a high percentage of GPs (75%) who were willing and keen to be involved in local radio talks, write newspaper articles and community talks.

Next year the GP Needs Survey will include a detailed section within each program to incorporate the GP satisfaction rating of the Division.  However, the October 1999 Needs Survey indicated that the majority of the members were happy with the current level of service provided by the Division.

Previous Programs and Projects

• Local Health Services Directory
• High School Health Forum
• Developmentally Delayed Children
• Diabetes Management
• Cooperative Trauma Management
• Major Trauma
• SA Farm Injury
• Mental Health Case Conferencing