February 2002

CONTENTS

GPDV Forum – Chronic Illness
GPDV Workshops: February & March
Education
www.gpdv.com.au: Your feedback is requested
Representation: Current Calls for Nominations
What is the "PHC RED" Strategy?
General Practitioner Register update

GPDV Forum – Chronic Illness

On Sunday 17 February, GPDV will hold its first quarterly forum of 2002 for GP chairs and other GPs of Victorian divisions. Our forums provide opportunities for information dissemination and the networking and sharing of ideas, and are focused on one particular aspect of general practice.

The theme of the February Forum is "Chronic Illness", with a particular emphasis on the ways in which divisions can support GPs as the government rolls out the chronic illness initiatives arising from the 2001/02 federal budget. There will be an overview of the initiatives; a specific focus upon diabetes and asthma management; and discussion and small group work in order to discuss and clarify the roles and potential roles of divisions in the process.

The speakers will include:

• Dr H. John Fardy, Chairman of the National Asthma Council General Practitioners' Asthma Group;
• Dr Peter MacIsaac of the Department of Health and Ageing who worked for ten years in rural Victoria as a GP, was the first Chair of the West Vic Division, and also a lecturer in the Department of General Practice at the University of Melbourne; and
• Dr John Siemienowicz, Chair of the Mornington Peninsula Division.

To register for the Forum contact Natasha Gray at GPDV on (03) 9341 5207 or email n.gray@gpdv.com.au.

GPDV Workshops: February & March

There are a number of workshops being held by GPDV throughout February and March. The draft agenda and faxback registration form for each event is faxed or emailed out approximately three weeks prior to the event and registrations close one week before an event. If you have any queries regarding upcoming workshops, please contact Natasha on 03 9341 5207 or e-mail to n.gray@gpdv.com.au or go to the GPDV website at www.gpdv.com.au and click on the "Events Calendar" link on the main page.

Upcoming workshops:

February

March

Education

GP Education Consultant Bob Burgell submitted the final report of the GPDV Education Project to GPDV's board at the end of January. The report contained a set of recommendations which are directed towards:

• Supporting divisions to fully realise the unique potential of their educational roles and consequently:
• Enabling local GPs to access quality Continuing Professional Development (CPD) tailored to their self-assessed upskilling needs
• Enabling GP education needs, which arise in implementation of commonwealth or state primary care and population health policies, to be addressed through CPD which practically supports the patient care and business management objectives of local GP practices.

More detailed information will be sent to divisions shortly.

www.gpdv.com.au: Your feedback is requested

Have you ever had trouble finding your way around the GPDV web site? Do you feel that it lacks important content? How would you like to use the web site to communicate with GPDV? What would you like to be able to do there? Is the colour scheme too dull for your liking? Now is your chance to tell us!

We will be upgrading the GPDV web site over the coming months and at this early stage we are soliciting comments and opinions from our target audience. The web site is there to serve you, and we need to hear what type of service we should be providing.

Please send any comments to Chris Miller, Health Informatics Consultant at c.miller@gpdv.com.au.

Representation: Current Calls for Nominations

After Hours Working Group

GPDV is calling for nominations for the After Hours Working Group. The group comprises 14 members to provide advice and comment to the GPDV Board and Victoria's After Hours Program Officer on issues concerning after hours in general practice. GPDV is calling for nominations to fill positions for one rural and one urban GP. Closing date for nominations is the 13 February.

Anti Cancer Council

GPDV is calling for a GP nomination to the Supportive Cancer Care Committee under the auspice of the Victorian Cooperative Oncology Group (VCOG). Closing dates for nominations are 18 February.

ADGP National Divisions' Forum 2002 Steering Committee

ADGP has requested a GPDV nomination to the National Divisions' Forum 2002 Steering Committee. The representative can be a divisional staff member or a GP representative from the division. Closing date for nominations is the 22 February.

DHS Diabetes Expert Advisory Group

GPDV is calling for a nomination for the DHS Diabetes Expert Advisory Group from GPs who are active in diabetes care. Closing date for nominations is the 22 February.

If you are interested in any of these positions, call your division which has the full information.

What is the "PHC RED" Strategy?

The Primary Health Care Research, Evaluation, and Development (PHC RED) Strategy 2001-2004 is a Commonwealth-funded program designed to support primary health care research that is strategic, that addresses key priorities and harnesses expertise across disciplines and institutions. The Strategy arises from recommendations in the 1998 Review of the General Practice Strategy. There are many elements of the PHC RED Strategy, one of which is development funding to university departments of general practice and departments of rural health.

Objectives of this development funding include:

• increasing the critical analysis skills of practitioners in the field;
• providing advice and support for applicants for PHC RED Strategy training awards and grants in order to maximise the quality and effectiveness of applications to the NH&MRC for research project grants, research fellowships and scholarships;
• providing innovative opportunities for practitioners to become involved in research through, for example, research networks, web-based research, and participation in national initiatives;
• providing opportunities for the development of depth in particular areas of academic expertise through, for example, train-the-trainer workshops and co-operative development of programs;
• creating and utilising opportunities for research into issues of importance to policy-makers, service planners, clinicians and consumers, for example, through budget initiatives.

The Development funding to universities may complement the work that many divisions are currently undertaking, particularly around improved quality of primary care and integration.

Across Australia, 18 university departments have received PHC RED funding. In Victoria, these are Monash University's Department of General Practice and the University of Melbourne's Department of General Practice and Department of Rural Health, which have formed the Victorian PHC RED Partnership. Some divisions have already been engaged in consultations with the Partnership. A statewide committee of the Partnership has now been formed, of which GPDV is a member.

To ensure that divisions are fully involved in the RED Program GPDV has been funded through the Victorian PHC RED Partnership to employ a part-time State Coordinator of the PHC RED Partnership. Gail Roberts, one of our Divisions Consultants, has been appointed to this 0.6 position and is contacting Victorian divisions about PHC RED and how divisions might make best use of the opportunity for collaborative work with the Partnership and other relevant stakeholders.

More information about the Strategy, including its detailed principles and objectives, can be found at the DoHA website at www.health.gov.au/hsdd/gp/phcresch.htm, or you can contact Gail Roberts, State Coordinator of the Victorian PHC RED Partnership, by email on g.roberts@gpdv.com.au, or by telephone on (03) 9341 5206.

General Practitioner Register update

Half the GPs we have contacted since the beginning of the year have already confirmed their contact details!

The GPR contains contact information for 4687 Victorian GPs and is Victoria's most complete and up-to-date source of this information. It is used by hospitals to contact GPs with discharge information about their patients.

To ensure the data is accurate, we contact each GP by sending a fax with the information currently held in the GPR, and we ask that the GP confirm or correct this information. If you have been sent a fax and not yet replied to it to confirm your contact details, we ask that you do so by the end of February. If you have any questions or did not receive a fax, feel free to contact the GPR Administrator Sarah Fitzgerald on (03) 9341 5123 or s.fitzgerald@gpdv.com.au.

There is more information about the GPR on the GPDV web site: www.gpdv.com.au. (Click on GP Register in the left column.)