Help save lives by advocating mammograms
BreastScreen North Coast is asking for the help of health practitioners in encouraging women over 40 to book in to have a mammogram every two years. The BreastScreen program on the North Coast offers free mammogram appointments at its Tweed Heads, Lismore, Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie and mobile sites. All women over 40 years of age are eligible to attend. The program especially urges women aged between 50-69 years to make the call to have a screening mammogram as they are in the high risk age group. BreastScreen North Coast Director Jane Walsh said currently many hundreds of women in the region were not not screening at all or not screening every two years. She said once was not enough.
“Although a GP referral is not necessary, patients listen to their GP or allied health practitioner, and if they are encouraged to have a mammogram it is likely they will take their doctor’s advice,” said Jane. The four sites have the latest digital technology and if a patient is called for further investigations they are completed at the assessment clinics at no cost to patients. Currently thermal imaging is being promoted, but the National Health and Medical Research Council warns against using breast thermography for early detection of breast cancer. Please help us by advising your female patients to ring 132 050 every two years to book their free screening appointment.
GP consults in pharmacy
A new service allows patients to walk into a pharmacy, sit in a booth and wait for the next available GP to appear on screen. More than 100 GPs have signed up to the ConsultDirect service, owned by Medilink Australia. It’s a private telehealth scheme enabling them to consult with patients sitting in video booths in pharmacies. The service is not covered by Medicare; patients pay the
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pharmacy $45 and the GP invoices the pharmacy for $40. GPs can log into the system in their spare time to see whether patients are waiting. At the end of the consult, GPs can fax prescriptions through to the pharmacy. The service is now available in 14 pharmacies but the Medical Council of NSW is urging NSW doctors to seek legal advice before taking part.
Online tool a real asset for internal communication During a recent practice brainstorm activity, the clinical team at the Mullumbimby Medical Centre came up with an efficient and easy to replicate communication tool to ensure staff and practitioners who work and are associated with the practice are kept up to date. Chiron Weber, who works alongside his father Dr Norbert Weber at the practice, said he set up the blog/forum as a convenient way to exchange ideas for future planning and suggestions to streamline practice activities. It is also a convenient way for staff to keep up with all the ‘stuff ’ that they are required to know to keep the centre running smoothly. Chiron said Wordpress was recommended as the platform for the forum – which is really a blog set-up that he has turned into something more. The setup allows for items to be posted and commented on by all members that are part of the blog. Chiron explained that staff simply sign on to the forum. They do need to turn on email notifications so that every time something is posted, they are informed and can then turn to
the forum and check it out. It’s also important to ensure the blog settings are set to ‘invite only’ to keep the blog private. Chiron said this tool means that staff meetings can be used for important business discussions while the other ‘stuff ’ can be posted online for staff to peruse, comment and discuss at their convenience. The blog can also be visited during staff meetings to finalise any discussions occurring online and make decisions on items raised. He is also inviting registrars, medical students and past staff members to access the forum so that they remain involved with the practice and can comment on ideas and practice improvements. Chiron told HealthSpeak the blog was still a work in progress. “Some staff members are not yet active, however everyone willing to get on board. With busy schedules this tool can be used for strategic planning, discussions and suggestions. A blog/forum is an excellent way to communicate ideas amongst staff and receive feedback on ideas and plans from all team members”, he said.
Hitting the streets
From left: North Coast Medicare Local took the opportunity to take to the main street of Coffs Harbour for Men’s Health Week. In the photo, Peter Murphy from the Men’s Shed Adele Maynard of Coffs Area Men’s Alliance, Terry Donovan from NCML’s Close the Gap program and Lyn Dalgliesh, RN NCML diabetes nurse (with stethoscope). HealthSpeak
spring 2012