24 February 2017


Update on new National Cancer Screening Register and Cervical Renewal

The Federal Goverment has delayed the start of the new National Cancer Screening Register and Cervical Renewal to ensure Australian patients continue to receive safe, high quality health care.

Due to the complexity of assimilating and migrating data from eight state and territory cancer registers into one national register, the 20 March 2017 start date for the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program and the 1 May 2017 start date for the National Cervical Screening Program have been delayed.

Whilst the delay to the new register will have no impact on the bowel screening program, the migration to the new generation Human Papillomavirus (HPV) based cervical screening will be delayed, as this is contingent on having a register to support the new screening pathway. Without a register function, there will be no national system in place to provide screening histories to laboratories to inform clinical decision-making and no ‘safety net’ supporting women with positive tests to ensure that they get appropriate follow up.

In the meantime, current arrangements for the existing two-yearly Pap smear screening will continue. The RACGP will continue to provide updates, including when a new start date for the program is confirmed.


Australian General Practice Alliance meeting

The Australian General Practice Alliance (AGPA) invites you to join its annual congress meeting in Sydney on Saturday 4 March 2017.

The AGPA meeting is a great opportunity for GPs to meet those involved at the forefront of the business of general practice and discuss the many issues faces by general practice owners.

The meeting will address topics such as:

  • clinical excellence while keeping your business afloat
  • pathology rent
  • the Medicare rebate freeze
  • Health Care Home model
  • changes to Practice Incentives Program funding
  • raising the profile of privately owned general practice.

Visit the AGPA website for further information.


Submission to Senate inquiry into the medical complaints mechanism

The RACGP has submitted a response to the Senate Community Affairs References Committee inquiry into the complaints mechanism administered under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law.

The RACGP submission reflects the valuable feedback received from members. Many of the issues identified by members echoed issues outlined in the final report of the initial Senate inquiry into the medical complaints process in Australia, particularly regarding the lack of:

  • an adequate process for vetting complaints
  • appropriate medical knowledge and/or specialty experience of investigators and/or board members
  • communication and transparency
  • timeliness
  • concern/recognition of the professional and personal consequences of investigations.

Thank you to members for providing your feedback during the consultation.

The submission is available on the RACGP website.


‘Inside Out’ Episode 3

Dr Nathan Pinskier Chair of the RACGP Expert Committee – eHealth and Practice Systems

In the latest instalment of ‘Inside Out’, the RACGP’s exclusive series of videos and messages for RACGP members, RACGP Chief Executive Officer Dr Zena Burgess speaks to Chair of the RACGP Expert Committee – eHealth and Practice Systems, Dr Nathan Pinskier.

Dr Pinskier speaks about technology in general practice, sharing his experience developing database software programs. Dr Pinskier predicts upcoming technology trends and the challenges they pose to general practice, as well as the role the RACGP plays in helping GPs become technology-ready.

Watch the video in shareGP here.

Questions for Dr Pinskier and Dr Burgess, as well as suggestions for upcoming videos, are welcomed in the comments section under the video in shareGP. For shareGP troubleshooting or login issues, please contact sharegp@racgp.org.au.


Seeking applications for GP Medical Educator, Assessment Projects

The RACGP Education Services team is seeking applications for the role of GP Medical Educator, Assessment Projects. The role is responsible for managing projects requiring a coordinated approach across different RACGP Assessment areas.

The successful applicant will be an RACGP Fellow who is experienced in, and passionate about, general practice performance assessment and education development.

Visit the RACGP website for the full position description.


Clinical Pearl

Blood ketones preferred over urinalysis for suspected diabetic ketoacidosis

Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a medical emergency with serious consequences such as delirium/coma and/or dehydration causing pre-renal failure and death.

In patients with type 1 diabetes, DKA may occur at diagnosis or subsequently arise as a result of surgery, trauma, infections, high dose steroids or cardiovascular ischaemia. For patients with type 2 diabetes, these causes need to combine with significantly impaired insulin secretion, typically in a setting of insulin use.

When DKA is suspected, an immediate finger prick capillary blood glucose with blood ketones is the preferred investigation for initial emergency assessment (Klocker et al 2013). Urinalysis for ketones may be performed, however this may be difficult if your patient is dehydrated.

Patients with suspected DKA with any combination of the following require emergency hospital assessment:

  • Abnormal ketones are ≥ 0.5 mmol/L (severe ketosis is >3.0 mmol/L)
  • Capillary or venous BGL >11 mmol/L
  • Venous Ph <7.3

Refer to the RACGP’s Diabetes Handbook (2016-2018) – Appendix J for more information on DKA.


In Practice poll

Faxes in general practice

How many faxes do you send each day?

By having a clearer sense of the numbers of faxes that are sent in general practice each day, the RACGP will be able to strengthen our argument about the need to move away from fax and towards secure electronic communication. We will also be able to continue to best represent the views of the profession through our working relationship with the Australian Digital Health Agency. Please take the time to answer the survey and help us with our secure electronic communication campaign.

If you have any general comments of anecdotal stories about the use of fax in general practice (either sending or receiving), please email the RACGP directly with your thoughts.


Media enquiries

Journalists and media outlets seeking comment and information from the RACGP should contact:

John Ronan

Senior Media Advisor