RACGP advocacy: Increased funding for telehealth and provision of PPE
On Sunday, the RACGP wrote to all members the Federal Government’s announcement of a range of measures to give GPs and other specialists more flexibility to support patients. The measures included access to PPE, temporary changes to telehealth, and the introduction of a national assessment, triage and notification infrastructure.
These changes follow last week’s meeting between RACGP President Dr Karen Price, representatives from all peak medical bodies, and the Health and Regional Health Ministers and are the direct result of sustained advocacy from the RACGP.
Read the update
Interim guidance for permission and restrictions for essential workers
The Prime Minister has announced that close-contact and furlough requirements will be amended for healthcare and support service workers (in line with other essential workers) to help ease workforce pressures.
Interim guidance for permission and restrictions for essential workers provides details on employer responsibilities and supports safe decision-making around whether an employee can return to work after a COVID-19 exposure, while still adhering to certain requirements.
The guidance should be applied in combination with any local requirements in your state/territory or as determined by your local Public Health Unit.
Read the interim guidance
Resources for patients who test positive for COVID-19
Most people who test positive for COVID-19 will likely only experience mild symptoms and recover without requiring special treatment or hospitalisation, especially if fully vaccinated. Patients can use the most relevant information in the RACGP’s COVID-19 patient guide to self-manage their illness at home.
Healthdirect has launched an online tool (based on our COVID-19 patient guide) to help COVID-19-positive patients know what they should do while isolating at home and when to seek medical help. People with COVID-19 are advised that if they are worried about their symptoms, but it is not an emergency, they should use the COVID-19 Symptom Checker or call the National Coronavirus Helpline on 1800 020 080 for free information and advice.
The Department of Health (DoH) has also published information for people who test positive for COVID-19 or are close contacts in 63 languages.
You may consider linking these resources from your practice website and sharing them via your practice’s social media accounts.
ATAGI recommends third primary dose of COVID-19 vaccine for immunocompromised children
ATAGI has updated its recommendations on the use of a third primary dose of COVID-19 vaccine in individuals who are severely immunocompromised, now recommending severely immunocompromised children aged 5–11 years receive a third primary dose 2–4 months after their second dose.
Previously, a third primary dose was only recommended for severely immunocompromised people aged 12 years and older. Severely immunocompromised people aged 18 years or older are also recommended to receive a fourth booster dose at least four months after their third dose.
Read the updated recommendations
Australian Immunisation Register reporting for children aged 5–11 years
Reporting a Pfizer vaccination for children aged 5–11 years in the Australian Immunisation Register is the same as for all other age cohorts.
When completing the report, use the vaccine code COMIRN.
Make sure to use the latest version of your clinical software to make sure it meets reporting requirements.
Priority populations for vaccination/boosters
The DoH has asked that, when possible, vaccine providers give aged care and disability support workers priority access to vaccine booster doses. This request comes as some states and territories mandate booster doses for this workforce to protect them and the people they care for.
Other priority populations for primary vaccination and booster doses include:
- people with disability
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
- pregnant people
- people with underlying medical conditions.
Deferral of 80/20 Medicare rule change and introduction of 30/20 rule
We’ve heard reports of members receiving conflicting information from Medicare regarding the addition of video and phone services to the 80/20 rule and the introduction of a 30/20 rule for phone services.
We can confirm these changes have been deferred to 1 July 2022 in response to the ongoing surge of the Omicron variant. The DoH has updated its fact sheet on telehealth services to reflect this.