SUMMARY OF THE GPDV BOARD MEETING

GPDV BOARD MEETING SUMMARY
Monday 8 July 2002

The topic for the August forum is IMIT. The GPDV survey of divisions� IMIT activities and needs will be presented as the basis for discussion about the future of our work with divisions.

The target audience for Forums is Division Chairs and senior GPs. The forums are a useful way to enable Chairs to keep abreast of developing issues and to enable them to comment in advance and to give leading players an opportunity to present to the Chairs the leading issues of the day. It is evident that Divisions value the Forums with a significant number of divisions, including a high number of rural divisions attending on a Sunday.

The board noted that divisions work well together in Victoria and forums may be an essential key for networking to Divisions at a board level. The board noted the need to have a balance between participant and speakers involvement; the format could change so that the divisions are given more time to debate and discuss issues. The board decided that the format of Forums should be discussed at the next August forum. This discussion should be based on a proposal prepared by staff and discussed at the board meeting on 9 August, this will give staff an opportunity to get feedback before making any changes.

Enhanced Primary Care

The program has officially come to an end as of the 30 June. GPDV�s Program has continued to provide support to divisions well beyond the completion of the program in other states, which has enabled our divisions to take advantage of the increasing knowledge about and experience in the use of the EPC items. GPDV is proposing to DoHA that we use the remaining balance of the funding to continue to provide that expertise to divisions as part of the CDM Program.

GPR

GPDV has received a request from the Royal Women�s Hospital for an extended use of the GPR to enable the hospital to encourage women who do not have a GP to find one and develop an ongoing relationship. The RWH request potentially affects all divisions as the hospital has a statewide role. The agreed purpose of the GPR is to transmit patient information from hospitals to GPs.

There are other implications about the future use of the GPR that arise from any extension of its use. GPDV has received requests from a number of other organisations, including from DHS, to extend access to the GPR to other agencies than hospitals. The board noted that it is essential to have division feedback on the future use of the GPR. There is also a need to consider the workload involved in extending the GPR and considering charging a fee for the information. The board decided to:

seek comment from divisions because any decision will set a precedent; and
draft for discussion at the August meeting, criteria and a process for the assessment of requests for the extension of the use of the GPR to organisations other than hospitals.

The board resolved that the current policy of the use of the GPR remains until further development of the policy.