Welcome, Jingeri.
20 January 2022
Welcome to Brisbane South PHN's weekly newsletter for primary health care providers.
We welcome your feedback. Let us know what you think at communication@bsphn.org.au. Or, if you require COVID-19 support, contact us at covidsupport@bsphn.org.au. Happy reading!
IMPORTANT: The official guidance underpinning the health advice in this publication is rapidly evolving; in some rare instances information may be already out of date at the time of publication. Please always check links provided for the latest information
COVID-19 Updates
PPE delays
Due to workforce and supply chain disruption across Australia, delivery of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) by the Commonwealth via PHNs has been delayed.
We continue to engage with both state and federal governments and will keep you informed of any progress.
Government Directives
Chief Health Officer public health directions
Queensland Health has updated and revoked a number of Public Health Directions effective from 15 January 2022 including (but not exclusive to) quarantine for international arrivals, mandatory face masks, residential aged care, disability accommodation services, and hospital entry.
Changes to border restrictions
From 15 January 2022, all domestic border restrictions ended. Travelers are now able to travel into Queensland from anywhere in Australia. This means:
- travelers no longer need to apply for a border pass
- a negative COVID-19 test will not be required to enter Queensland
- there will be no requirement to quarantine if a person is not vaccinated.
Medicare benefits schedule for extended telehealth services
Two new item numbers are available for practitioners delivering longer telephone consultations lasting 20 minutes or more. For more information, visit the website below.
New item numbers are available for specialist medical practitioners to provide telehealth consultations to hospital in-patients, when their doctor cannot attend the hospital as a result of COVID-19 restrictions.
Clinical Guidance
ATAGI recommendations on booster doses for immunocompromised people
The Australian Technical Advisory Group (ATAGI) has updated their recommendations for immunocompromised people. Individuals aged 18 years or older who received a 3-dose primary course of a COVID-19 vaccine, due to severe immunocompromise, are now recommended to receive a booster (4th) dose 4 months after their 3rd dose.
Updated Homebound COVID-19 Vaccination Referral Form
Brisbane North PHN and Brisbane South PHN are supporting the Australian Government’s COVID-19 vaccination rollout to members of our community who are unable to leave their home to attend a vaccination clinic. If your client requires assistance to access a COVID-19 vaccine in their home (and they have provided consent) please complete this form. This form has also been updated to include the booster vaccine.
Sotrovimab therapies
Queensland Health COVID-19 Therapeutics Working Group has developed guidelines for clinicians around appropriate prescribing and safe administration of Sotrovimab for people diagnosed with COVID-19.
Point-of-care rapid antigen tests
Point-of-care rapid antigen tests (RATs) are recommended for health workplaces seeking to test multiple staff prior to their return to work. They must be administered by a specified trained health practitioner, can be ordered in bulk, and are currently more commercially available than self-administered RATs.
Interim COVID-19 Guidance for Respiratory Services
The Statewide Respiratory Clinical Network has released Interim COVID-19 guidance for respiratory services. The purpose is to provide Queensland Health respiratory units with advice about key issues to consider when planning the provision of services as we live with COVID-19.
Other news
Is it time to update your referral templates?
Referral templates are continually updated to ensure relevance and accuracy. If referral forms are not completed accurately they may be sent back to you to complete again.
Check the Brisbane South PHN Forms and Referrals webpage to ensure you have the latest versions, and for guidance on how to install the templates into your clinical software.
Translated videos: How to call an ambulance
Some culturally and linguistically diverse communities do not call for an ambulance because they do not know how to. Some have limited English skills or are worried about what will happen to them in the ambulance, or how much it will cost.
Brisbane South PHN has worked together with Welcome 360, Queensland Ambulance Service and Multicultural Australia to create a video called Calling an Ambulance in Queensland that has been translated into nine languages. This video aims to make sure everyone in the community has equal access to an ambulance in their time of need, and is aware of how they work and what to expect when paramedics arrive.
Translations: Amharic, Arabic, Burmese, Dari, S’gaw Karen, Somali, Swahili, Tigrinya, Vietnamese.
Alcohol and other drug training for GPs
The Starter Pack free educational package delivered by Insight builds General Practitioner knowledge, skills and confidence to effectively respond to patients experiencing problematic alcohol and other drug (AOD) use.
Delivered across a series of 9 short sessions with AOD experts, it includes an introductory eLearning module and 8 live and recorded education sessions specifically for primary care providers.
The training is also available for practice managers, primary care nurses and clinicians, First Nations health and social and emotional wellbeing workers, and practice administration staff.
Working Better with Borderline Personality Disorder using DBT
This free online training will give you the basics of understanding Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), practical ideas and more confidence in working with people with this disorder, informed by the extensive experience of the trainers.
This online webinar is for GPs working in the Brisbane South region wanting CPD opportunities in mental health and Borderline Personality Disorder in particular. This education is a CPD Activity under the RACGP CPD Program.
There are 3 webinar dates to choose from (register for 1 only):
Time: 7.00pm – 8.30pm
COVID-19 permitting, a follow-up face-to-face training session will be delivered in May 2022 at Brisbane South PHN's office in Eight Mile Plains for those seeking a deeper level of skill and knowledge in this area (CPD Accredited Activity points under the RACGP CPD Program are being applied for). Attendance at online webinar is a pre-requisite.
Training is delivered by Kathy Madson and Monique Kofler, Metro South Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) Workforce Development Officers, and Dr Chris May, an intensively trained DBT therapist from DBT Brisbane and medical practitioner with 27 years' experience in public mental health care.
Workforce development and training
Brisbane South PHN
Other education
Identify, manage and refer patients suffering from an eating disorder
The National Eating Disorders Collaboration (NEDC) have developed a quality improvement toolkit to assist general practices in providing care to people.
This quality improvement toolkit is to be used in general practice to:
- identify those people in your practice with, and at risk of, an eating disorder, including screening and assessment of those with relevant comorbidities or presentations
- develop a register of people with an eating disorder to facilitate better continuity of care (reminders, recalls)
- increase your ability to better manage the physical and mental health of people with an eating disorder
- support prevention, early identification, appropriate intervention and referral of people with, and at risk of, an eating disorder
- identify people eligible for MBS eating disorder and other funding streams.
To request practice support, contact the Quality Improvement team at support@bsphn.org.au.
Improving consumer wellbeing through greater access to DBT
Workforce Development is a key priority area within the Brisbane South PHN and Metro South Addiction and Mental Health Service’s joint ‘Working Together Differently – Brisbane South Mental Health, Suicide Prevention and Alcohol and Other Drug Foundation Plan 2020-2022’.
Currently Brisbane South PHN and MSAMHS are partnering to roll out cross-sectoral Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) training across the Brisbane south region (May 2021 to June 2022).
Within the Brisbane south region there are an estimated 15,000 individuals who would benefit from accessing DBT, and many more who would benefit from DBT-informed practice.
This partnership upskills and trains Brisbane South’s health workforce using the Spectrum competency framework. This ensures people who would benefit from accessing DBT receive flexible treatment from ‘practice-informed’ frontline staff across the sector, including addiction, suicide prevention and mental health staff, GPs, private allied health and nursing professionals, and non-government organisations (NGOs). DBT is an evidence-based approach to treat BPD. There is also evidence to support benefits for treating mood disorders and suicide ideation.
This project will:
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Build the workforce capability of MSAMHS, NGOs and General Practice to more effectively engage people experiencing personality challenges and/or challenging behaviours.
- Develop the local workforce to deliver cross-sectoral DBT training.
- Contribute to local knowledge and health intelligence regarding prevalence of people experiencing personality challenges and/or challenging behaviours in the region, as well as the effectiveness of cross-sectoral DBT training to improve care coordination and quality.
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work, and of the many different nations across the wider Brisbane south region. We pay our respects to the Elders, past, present and emerging, as the holders of the memories, the traditions, the culture and the spiritual wellbeing of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across the nation. We acknowledge any Sorry Business that may be affecting the communities as a whole. In the spirit of reconciliation, partnership and mutual respect, we will continue to work together with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to shape a health system which responds to the needs and aspirations of the community.
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While the Australian Government has contributed funding for this material, it has not reviewed the content and is not responsible for any injury, loss or damage however arising from the use of, or reliance on, the information provided herein.