February 2023

As summer draws to a close, I hope everyone had the opportunity to enjoy the warmer weather, soak up some vitamin D and enjoy some well-deserved R&R.

Thanks to our Deputy Chairs, Dr Rebekah Hoffman and Dr Michael Wright, for updating everyone in last month’s newsletter. I know they touched on the important advocacy work the RACGP has been doing, and advocacy has again featured heavily in the faculty’s work in February.

Earlier this month, we pushed hard in our fight against payroll tax on tenant GP earnings by taking out full-page ads in the Sydney Morning Herald and Daily Telegraph featuring an open letter to NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet. The letter generated some great media coverage!

The college’s media-focused advocacy also ramped up across state and national levels in the lead-up to the first National Cabinet meeting of 2023. Discussions on the agenda included the key issues of payroll tax and the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce recommendations.

Following the National Cabinet meeting, the taskforce report was released. The RACGP has cautiously welcomed many measures contained in the report but warned that even greater reform is needed to secure the future of general practice care.

The NSW Government has announced a plan to roll out a single-employer model for GP training in regional NSW. While we wait for implementation details, the RACGP welcomes greater investment in GP training in regional communities and models that put general practice on equal footing with other medical specialties.

In other big news, the college took on stewardship of the Australian General Practice Training Program across the country, including in NSW and the ACT, which transitioned on 6 February. More than 700 new staff started at the college to help ensure a smooth changeover. You can find information about profession-led, community-based GP training, including the education calendars for each region, on the RACGP website.

There’s a lot happening, so please don’t forget to look after your own health and wellbeing and take advantage of the remaining summer days. Until next month.
 

Event	Date, time	Location	CPD
What GPs need to know for World Pride 2023	21 February 2023 7.30–8.30 pm (AEDT)	Online	One EA CPD hour
Challenges and barriers to testing and treating hepatitis B	27 February 2023 7.30–8.30 pm (AEDT)	Online	One EA CPD hour
NSW flu vaccination update 2023	28 February 2023 7.30–8.30 pm (AEDT)	Online	One EA CPD hour
Voluntary assisted dying (Part 1)	1 March 2023 7.30–8.30 pm (AEDT)	Online	One EA CPD hour
Death certificates and coronial processes	8 March 2023 7.30–8.30 pm (AEDT)	Online	One EA CPD hour
CPR course for GPs	30 March 2023 7.00–9.00 pm	North Sydney	Two EA CPD hours

Our wellbeing weekend offers you the chance to re-energise and reflect on your own wellbeing. We're currently finalising the program, which will meet the new CPD requirements and cover a range of activities, like yoga, surfing, art classes and more, that you can enjoy at an idyllic water-view location.

Dates: 27–28 May 2023

Venue: Sails By Rydges, Port Macquarie

Cost: RACGP members: $485 | Non-members: $515

 

Register now ​| Find out more

The RACGP Foundation is delighted to announce the opening of its annual grants and awards program on 1 March. Close to half a million dollars in funding is available this year, thanks to the generous support of the Foundation’s partners.

For more than 60 years, the RACGP Foundation’s grants and awards program has enabled GPs, GPs in training and medical students to do important research in their communities, helping to build an evidence base to inform and improve practice and patient outcomes.

Now’s your chance to join the impressive list of grant and award recipients whose work has helped shape Australian healthcare. Apply online between 1 March and 1 May 2023 on the RACGP Foundation website.  

Apply now

RACGP NSW&ACT congratulates the following GPs who attained Fellowship of the RACGP last month:

Congratulations on achieving Fellowship of the RACGP! We recognise all the sacrifice and hard work that has gone into your GP journey.

Transitioning from a being a GP in training to an independent, practising GP is a major career-changing (and life-changing) milestone. The Next Five Program extends support to New Fellows as they navigate their first few years of unsupervised practice.

We’re making CPD simpler and more connected to your everyday practice with solutions that help you meet your 50 hours – all included in your RACGP membership. 

Your new CPD dashboard is up and running! It’s time to start your Professional Development Plan, and your myCPD home makes it easy to navigate and quick to complete. 

Visit myCPD home 

One way to meet your total Measuring Outcomes (MO) requirement is to do a mini audit (worth six hours). You can evaluate patient care or practice-based processes in many ways. You can conduct your mini audit over a fixed period or choose a number of patients, depending on your goals. You can do it on your own or with colleagues. 

Possible topics could include: 

• skin checks 
• BMI 
• cervical screening and self-testing 
• diabetes control 
• immunisation status 
• alcohol
• smoking status 
• asthma plans. 

Access resources, guidelines and an audit template

If you weren’t able to attend last week’s information webinar about tenant GPs and payroll tax, you can now catch up at your leisure. Hear from RACGP CEO Paul Wappett, President Dr Nicole Higgins, Vice-President Dr Bruce Willett and representatives from accounting firm William Buck on the implications of recent changes and what they mean for practices across Australia.z

Watch the webinar

And don't forget, we’ve put together some resources to help you and your patients lobby your local MP, including posters, letter templates and social media material.

The RACGP is proud to be joining the Sydney WorldPride parade on 25 February with the inaugural Pride in Medicine float!

The RACGP and other medical colleges have partnered to bring together 60 LGBTQI+ identifying doctors and allies to ride on the float. It’ll be the first ever combined medical colleges float in the Mardi Gras parade, and the significance of our collaboration for WorldPride can’t be understated. 

Tune in to the action on our social media channels on the day of the parade to see our CEO Paul Wappett join three RACGP members representing the college. Or if you’ll be in Sydney for WorldPride, come and cheer the Pride in Medicine float along Oxford Street from 6.00 pm (AEDT).

The NSW Get Healthy Service offers phone-based health coaching and information to support patients to get more active.

University-qualified health coaches partner with patients to set goals, overcome barriers and discover easy ways to increase physical activity that fits into their lifestyle.

This NSW Government service is available free of charge to all NSW residents aged 16 years and above.

Find out more and to refer your patients 

Referral forms are also available in MedicalDirector and Best Practice.

Young people who use e-cigarettes may be at risk of a lifetime of nicotine addiction.

You can advise parents on how to encourage their child to stop using e-cigarettes and let them know that help is available. Access information on vaping in 10 languages on the NSW Health vaping webpage.

Refer parents to the Quitline on 13 7848. Quitline counsellors understand nicotine addiction and can provide advice and support to help young people quit. The service also has Aboriginal counsellors and counsellors who speak languages other than English.  

NSW Health facilities are transitioning from individual hospital formularies to a single state-wide NSW Medicines Formulary in 2023. The formulary is a list of medicines approved for initiation of treatment. It aims to support better value healthcare and optimal clinical governance.

Patients’ existing prescriptions won’t be changed to formulary alternatives while they’re in hospital unless there’s a clinical or safety reason to do so. If your patient’s usual medications have changed during a hospital stay, information about the reason for that change will be included in their discharge notes for your review.

Visit the website for more information.