Top support for primary care staff through COVID
While general practices continued to respond to the pandemic and provide flexible primary care, SEMPHN continued to be a trusted source of COVID-19 information.
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Trusted information for professionals at the primary care frontline
While general practices continued to respond to the pandemic and provide flexible primary care, SEMPHN continued to be a trusted source of COVID-19 information. We provided health professionals with timely localised resources, digital solutions, clinical education opportunities, business continuity and infection control support.
- 1,589 health professionals received our weekly COVID-19 update newsletter
- 118 health professionals received our COVID-19 text message updates
- 501 health professionals attended each of our nine COVID-19 related education and training webinars, particularly around vaccination processes.
Dedicated pages on the SEMPHN website maintained their position as a vital hub for information and resources, providing the latest Government advice, forms, factsheets and pathways. This included a dedicated page ‘Winter Planning’, helping general practices plan for surges in both COVID and flu.
As part of a partnership with the
South East Public Health Unit (SEPHU),
SEMPHN helped refine COVID-19 Positive Pathways with our hospital and community partners to clearly guide GPs in community-based COVID-19 patient care and help prevent unnecessary hospitalisations. Together we were able to link
more than 500 COVID-19 positive patients with local GPs, allowing for escalations and a more rapid response if they became more unwell.
Ramping up testing and vaccine delivery
SEMPHN’s dedicated COVID-19 Special Projects team continued to lead, manage and deliver government initiatives across general practice and Residential Aged Care Facilities (RACFs).
This included supporting:
- General Practices, Pharmacies and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHO) with personal protective equipment (PPE), delivering 743,631 PPE units
- Four Commonwealth-funded GP Respiratory Clinics in Port Melbourne, Prahran, Carrum Downs and Rosebud. These clinics triaged, assessed, treated and tested 190,475 people this year
- Eight State-funded GP Respiratory Clinics: Cranbourne, Narre Warren South, Officer, Mentone, Dandenong, Glen Eira, Frankston and Hastings. These clinics delivered services to more than 51,125 people since their staggered opening from December 2021.
- There are 387 COVID-19 Vaccinating Practices in our region, administering five different vaccines.
- Astra Zenaca: 387 Practices
- Pfizer Adult 12+ : 368 Practices
- Pfizer (5-12) : 382 practices
- Moderna: 112 practices
- Novavax : 148 practices
- Co-ordinated COVID-19 boosters and winter doses for 11,668 residents in 157 RACFS
- Five general practices to deliver the Vulnerable and Homebound COVID-19 vaccination program, which delivered 1,172 occasions of service in people’s homes, RACFs and other community settings.
- Three providers to deliver a winter home visiting model which received referrals from General Practice Respiratory Clinics, Aged Care Facilities experiencing outbreaks and Residential In-Reach Services.
In view of the enormous challenges for general practice staff, SEMPHN continued to offer our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) free of charge for general practice staff. Uptake of this counselling and psychology support increased over the year as stress, exhaustion and burnout became even more significant issues for general practice staff.
We are frantic – every second person has cold and flu – some people are really sick with asthma/virus complications etc.
Thank you for your ongoing support you are certainly a breath of fresh air to my daily grind!
– quotes from general practice staff when asked to describe 2021/2022
We asked general practice staff to describe what 2021-2022 was like for them.
Some of the key themes from Practice Managers’ Brains Trust meetings held since August last year.
SEMPHN Video call Snapshot FY21/22
SEMPHN’s Provider Support Team provided rapid-response support for digital solutions such as telehealth and video calls.
Health professionals in south east Melbourne were among the highest users of videocall in Australia, ranking fourth nationally with close to
27,700 calls peaking in October 2021 due to lockdowns in Victoria.
Key statistics
Video consultations during
FY 2021/2022. October peak directly related to lockdown in Victoria.
Thank you Frankston Respiratory Clinic for kindly putting in so much time and effort into looking after COVID-19 Positive Clients quarantining at home in our community. We greatly appreciate your whole team.
– COVID-19 Positive Pathways, Community Care, Frankston Hospital
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We help to support general practices, the cornerstone of primary care, in their provision of high-quality care for people in south east Melbourne
South Eastern Melbourne PHN
Level 2, 15 Corporate Drive
Heatherton Victoria 3202
ABN 65 603 858 751
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