In Practice

The new ‘Managing exposure to crystalline silica: Engineered stone’ compliance code came into effect on Tuesday 11 February.  The code provides practical guidance on how to comply with obligations under Victoria's occupational health and safety legislation when manufacturing, supplying or working with engineered stone. The code includes compliance information about: Part 4.5 – Crystalline Silica of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 (OHS Regulations), that came into effect in August 2019, to prohibit the uncontrolled use of power...

RACGP members are invited to meet local GPs and the team from RACGP Rural at the Coffs Harbour sundowner social on Friday 20 March. Visit the RACGP website to find out more and sign up for this special event. Members are also invited to attend the ‘ Introduction to point-of-care ultrasound for rural GPs’ workshop on Saturday 21 March. Participants will identify practical applications of ultrasound technology in rural general practice settings, and utilise point-of-care ultrasound devices under the guidance of experienced rural GPs and sonograph...

Are you interested in becoming a GP provider of Focussed Psychological Strategies (FPS) to offer cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)-derived FPS counselling to your patients? The RACGP Rural online Focussed Psychological Strategies Skills Training (FPS ST) package provides essential mental health skills training without having to leave your practice or community. The flexible, innovative training package consists of four modules and uses a combination of technology, peer learning groups and locally available resources. Level one Mental Health Ski...

The third annual RACGP Practice Owners National Conference will deliver a dedicated program stream specific to rural and remote practice owners. Sessions will include information on: funding models and grants getting the best out of your technology for rural and remote practice HR – supporting the rural and remote practice establishing and managing a viable and sustainable rural practice disaster/drought planning and management. We are also supporting our rural and remote practice owner colleagues by providing a live streaming registration o...

RACGP Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health is undertaking a review of its position statements, in order to ensure they are accurate and are relevant to the current policy environment.  Our current position statements are available to view on the RACGP website . The faculty welcomes your input on the updated position statements. Please contact aboriginalhealth@racgp.org.au to access copies of the updated documents or if you have any questions. We welcome your feedback by Monday 2 March.

The Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council (AHMAC) has tasked, via its Health Services Principal Committee and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), an independent expert panel to develop a National Health Information Strategy (NHIS). The RACGP is developing a response to the NHIS draft framework.  We welcome any member feedback by Wednesday 11 March. You can submit feedback via online survey on the RACGP website .

The Coroners Court of Victoria recently made recommendations to the RACGP following the death of a patient from sepsis complicating bronchopneumonia and a chest wall abscess in the setting of adrenal crisis. The Coroner asked the RACGP to advise their members to: be mindful of the risk of adrenal crisis, with particular consideration to the non-specific nature of symptoms preceding a crisis the importance of quick recognition and treatment of crisis adjusting medication during periods of stress and illness ensure that your medical softwar...

Amendments to the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law are expected to start in March 2020 and will apply to all states and territories, except Western Australia. The amendments will change the reporting obligations for treating practitioners by establishing a higher risk threshold to report impairment, intoxication or practice that significantly departs from accepted standards. These changes aim to give practitioners confidence to seek help for health conditions if they need it. The RACGP has worked with Australian Health Practitioner Reg...