Patient centre
Fact Sheets & Useful Patient Information
The following patient information is not meant to be a substitute for medical professional advice. Any concerns should be discussed with your general practitioner or health professional.
Understanding the side effects of medicines
ASMI has developed a leaflet to help people better understand side effects. The leaflet answers some common questions people may have about taking medicines, in particular, the risk of side effects versus the benefits of taking a medicine. The leaflet provides general information on:
- How common side effects can be;
- What to do if you get a side effect;
- Weighing the risks and benefits;
- Getting information on your medicine;
- Reducing the chance of side effects;
- When side effects can happen; and
- Reporting side effects.
It also provides details of where to get further information about medicines.
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Fact sheet: Understanding the side effects of medicines (text
only) PDF 38Kb |
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Fact sheet: Understanding the side effects of medicines PDF 109Kb |
GP Mental Health Care Plan Medicare items
A GP Mental Health Care Plan is a plan made by your doctor (general practitioner, or GP) for treating a mental health problem over time. Your GP will work with you to assess your mental health, work out what help you need, set goals and choose the treatment that would be best for you. Your GP will also discuss options for treatment and advise you about any other services that might help you. (The plan might also include what to do in a crisis or to prevent relapse.) Once you and your GP have agreed on your goals and what you need to do to achieve them, your GP will write out a mental health care plan. Preparing the plan might take one visit, or it might take a number of visits.
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Fact Sheet: Mental Health Care Plan (1MB) PDF 1MB |
Patient Information Booklet
The WA Department of Health have recently produced a consumer-directed health information booklet, called 'Patient First'. The goal of the Patient First program is to increase patients' understanding of their condition, and facilitate better decision-making through informed consent.
A PDF version of the complete Patient First booklet, as well individual chapters of the booklet, can be downloaded from the following trusted website www.safetyandquality.health.wa.gov.au/involving_patient/patient_1st.cfm
A new time efficient carers’ resource for GPs and practice nurses
‘Surviving the maze’ is a series of 60 web based information sheets for family carers of older people. Tailored by Carer’s Associations in each state and territory, the series is accurate and user friendly, and provides information about caring for an older person at home, dealing with hospitals, considering residential care, and caring for a family member in residential care. The ‘Surviving the maze’ information sheets can be obtained from www.survivingthemaze.org.au
We welcome your comments and feedback: advocacy@racgp.org.au
Information on The RACGP Standards for General Practices
The RACGP Standards for general practices (4th edition) are a framework for quality care and risk management in Australian general practice. The Standards help general practice teams deliver better health outcomes for their patients.
The Standards focus on safety, quality and accountability – they do not prescribe how a practice should provide clinical care.
www.racgp.org.au/standards/consumerinfo
List of accredited general practices
The accreditation agencies maintain a list of practices who have received accreditation against the RACGP Standards for general practices, (provided the practice has agreed to their details being made public). Please note that not all practices may have provided their consent to be on the list. If the practice you are enquiring about is not on the list, you can ask the practice if they are currently accredited against the RACGP Standards for general practices.
GPA ACCREDITATION plus
www.gpa.net.au/pages/Corporate/SearchPractices
AGPAL
www.qip.com.au/accreditation.asp?acrid=6
Cervical cancer vaccine information
www.cervicalcancervaccine.org.au
Cancer Council developed this website and the resources on it with the Victorian Cytology Service (operators of the National HPV Vaccination Program Register) and Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, to provide information to parents, girls, schools and health professionals about HPV vaccination, with the aim of increasing uptake of the vaccine.
This was in response to frequent requests from parents and vaccine providers for easily understandable information resources about HPV and the vaccine, as well as Australian research indicating there is a need for suitable resources for girls. It has been developed in line with the latest research on issues affecting vaccine uptake in school-based vaccination programs.