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April 2001 | |
CONTENTS
GPDV Conference
Minister for Health's funding announcements
Victorian Divisions Forum
National Divisions Summit on GP Financing
GPDV - Workforce Project
General Practice and Population Health - on the national agenda
After Hours
Rural Health Week
NIS Website Update
EPC National Uptake Data
GPDV
Conference:
Managing change: Divisions,
General Practitioners and People's Health
Over 450 delegates attended the Conference on 30 & 31 March. Evaluations indicate that participants were stimulated, challenged and informed by the many high quality presentations and discussions. Overseas speakers, Dr Jonathan Shapiro (UK) and Dr Vinod Sahney (US) gave interesting and provocative perspectives on structural issues affecting general practice, particularly Jonathan's comment that there still seems to be a lack of clarity and agreement about what the Divisions Program is aiming to achieve, and Vinod's report on the failure of the US approach to the corporatisation of general practice.
Prof Gregor Coster's (NZ) description of the new NZ government's changes to the Independent Practitioners' Associations (IPAs) was interesting news to those who had thought that IPAs were the way to go; it had lessons for divisions of general practice as they wrestle with the notion of Divisions of Primary Care. Dr Julie Thompson, Chair of ADGP, acknowledged the need to learn from overseas experience but stressed the need - and the opportunities - for divisions to take the lead in finding Australian solutions for Australia.
Those seeking to follow-up on conference content can turn to the GPDV website, where the majority of presentations from both plenary and concurrent sessions will be by the end of April. The September issue of the Divisions Quarterly journal will focus on the themes and issues identified through the conference.
Minister for Health's funding
announcements
At the GPDV Conference the Minister for Health & Aged Care,
Dr Michael Wooldridge, announced continued or new funding for the
national Divisions of General Practice Program in four areas:
Victorian Divisions Forum
A Piece of the Pie: How the GP MoU works Sunday 20 May
2001
The May Forum will feature a presentation by Dr Julie Thompson Chair of ADGP, and Chris Milton, ADGP Policy Officer, explaining the GP Memorandum of Understanding in plain English, and seeking input into the ongoing discussions about GP financing.
Given the importance of the subject, divisions will be invited to send as many GPs as they wish, rather than only their Chairs, as is usual. Because of this it is likely that a different venue, able to accommodate more participants, will be used. An announcement will be made about this in the near future.
Your division has a copy of the "Plain English" version of the MoU, prepared by ADGP.
National Divisions Summit on GP
Financing
ADGP will sponsor a National Divisions Summit on GP Financing to
be held on Friday 15 June in Melbourne.
All divisions and SBOs have been invited to send one GP representative to the summit which will focus on:
ADGP will provide discussion papers before the Summit so that SBOs and divisions can consult with members.
Victorian divisions will have the opportunity to consider these issues, in preparation for the Summit, at the GPDV Forum on 20 May.
GPDV
- Workforce Project
The GPDV Workforce Project is underway. Susanne White, the
project coordinator for the Resolutions group, has interviewed
key stakeholders and has visited all the divisions who registered
interest in the Project. She is now incorporating the data from
those meetings into a consultation paper for circulation to
divisions and all other players. The paper will be available from
the week beginning May 14.
All divisions will be invited to
attend one of two consultation forums to comment on the Paper and
assist in development of the final recommendations.
The consultation forums will be held on Wednesday June 13,
12pm-5pm and Saturday June 16, 10am-12pm. Lunch will be provided.
Details on the forums will follow with the Workforce Paper.
General Practice and Population
Health - on the national agenda
The JAG Symposium was held in Sydney on the 23/24 March 2001. Its
purpose was to reach agreement on the terms of a draft Consensus
Statement on General Practice and Population Health, and to
develop the key features of a national 'Framework for Action'.
Six GP representatives from Victoria's rural and metropolitan
divisions attended, plus two GPDV representatives. Participants
agreed that the "Key Systems" to support GPs under a
National Action Plan were:
The Report of the Symposium, including the final draft of the Consensus Statement is to be considered by the National Public Health Partnership (NPHP) and the General Practice Partnership Advisory Council (GPPAC) shortly, after which a draft National Action Plan around GPs and population health will be developed.
After
Hours
A national workshop on after-hours primary medical services on
22/23 March heard reports on progress with the five after-hours
Trials that are currently funded by DH&AC.
The workshop was told that SBOs, including GPDV, will be funded by the Commonwealth to work in the area of after-hours primary medical care, including an examination of the actual and potential roles of divisions of general practice in after-hours services. We will report on the details of the proposal when they are to hand.
Rural
Health Week
As part of Rural Health Week 2001, VHA is convening the second
Victorian Rural & Remote Allied Health Professionals
Conference, titled 'Effective Rural Practice'. The conference
focuses on building partnerships and relationships, better
practice models, professional development and IT. VHA has
incorporated the former CURHEV. To obtain a copy of the program
contact Jenny Ginnane at VHA on 039696 2799 or the WebSite www.rural-health.org.au/week2001
NIS
Website Update
The National Information Service Website has been updated and
includes:
The NIS website contains a wealth of information about the Divisions Program and GPEP including
GPEP Projects Database - summary information on all completed and in progress projects funded by the General Practice Evaluation Program.
Divisions' Projects Database - summary information about Divisional projects funded under the Divisions and Project Grants Program (DPPG). This database was closed in 1998, with the completion of the DPPG and the advent of outcomes based block funding.
Activities of Divisions Database - 100 Strategic and Business Plans from the 123 Australian Divisions of General Practice. The information has been collected via the OBF Template V.3, which Divisions entered themselves and the NIS compiled and catalogued. It currently consists of the 1999 - 2000 Strategic and Business Plans of the Transitional Divisions.
As always, information about the latest updates are on the 'What's New' page at http://www.flinders.edu.au/nis/
Can be obtained from the DH&AC Website: http://www.health.gov.au/hsdd/gp/epc/2001data.htm
