There are two weeks to go until the Russell Conference. Over 75 people have registered so far...make sure that you don't miss out on the biggest GP event in Northland for 2015 by registering on the website. The Northland Faculty RNZCGP AGM will also be held at the conference. On the agenda are:
This is the last week for early bird registration for the annual Russell Conference. Register now before prices increase!
One of the speakers at the conference is Felicity Goodyear-Smith. Felicity is Professor of General Practice at the University of Auckland and has published numerous studies. Her particular area of research interest is in identifying anxiety and depression in a general practice setting. She has been instrumental in designing an electronic screening tool (eChat) to screen for mental health and addiction issues within general practice. Felicity will deliver two talks. The first will address some of the presenting features of, and risk factors for, depression and anxiety in adolescents, how to identify and a step-wise approach towards management. Her second talk is on social contagion. Social contagion is a mass sociogenic illness involving a condition that spreads within a social group, but does not seem to have a common organic cause. This talk presents a number of reported cases dating from the Middle Ages to the present, with a fascinating example that occurred in Auckland in 1973.
Long serving Moerewa GP Graeme Fenton was recently featured in New Zealand Doctor. A collection of photos taken of Graeme by Kerikeri GP Chris Reid have been published as a photo essay on YouTube and are available to view below
The Northland Faculty would like to pay tribute to Mr Peter Milsom. The faculty was indeed lucky enough to have Peter speak at the Russell conference in 2014. It was a touching, personal presentation of his journey through medicine in Northland paralleled by the creation of an arboretum legacy at his home in Pakaraka with his wife, Gerry. Both journeys are marked by energy, commitment, long hours, a supportive family and a sense of permanence that only few get to create in a lifetime, short or long.
Peter's career is well known in Northland, developing obstetric skills and furthering his surgical skills at the Bay of Islands Hospital while he was a general practitioner. Peter's time in general practice not only benefited the people of Moerewa, Kawakawa and surrounding districts, but his rapport, humor, availability and understanding of general practice was also of benefit to Northland General Practitioners when relating to him as a surgeon and eventually the clinical director for Northland DHB surgical services.
In 2014 the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons awarded Peter the Outstanding Service to the Community Award. Despite such extraordinary achievements and dedication that leaves one wondering about their own sense of purpose, Peter was a fairly humble man who lived in the community he served, enjoyed music and a good story.
"I am not old but believe I will not get much older" Peter passed away peacefully on the 25th February 2014. His life was celebrated by the wider community at Otiria Marae and family and friends at his Pakaraka garden.
He will be missed by his Northland General Practice colleagues
Northland Faculty Board member Mark Lankshear sits on the Northland Long Term Conditions Governance Group. His report from its latest meeting is below.
"I attended the Northland DHB Long Term Conditions Group last night as a GP rep.
This group oversees DHB work streams to improve care of people with LTCs.
At last night’s meeting there were a number of things of note.
There is a plan for integrated education sessions with primary and secondary workers around diabetes care and initiating insulin that are hoped to happen in July / August.
Although there is some frustration about slow progress, there are ongoing efforts to improve delivery and access to both Cardiac and Respiratory rehab – the funding group have asked for these to go through a “co-design” process before approving further funding. Although challenging there are efforts being made to take this forward, with a suggestion to use Kaikohe as a possible area to try out the co-design process and with efforts to link this with the Neighbourhood Health Care Home initiatives.
Also regarding respiratory conditions there is ongoing work to try to improve access to spirometry. There has been progress with some nurses receiving training in Christchurch and work will be ongoing to look at issues around local workforce training and accreditation before proposals can be taken forward to try to ensure locally available equipment and testing – I will be advocating hard for this to be available in primary care.
The gout pilot is almost ready to be rolled out and pharmacists are being actively recruited – funding seems largely in place and we are at the stage of final reviews of the protocols for medication packs prior to training for pharmacists / GPs and ensuring local arrangements are in place where community pharmacists have expressed willingness / ability to participate.
There is very early work being done around dementia pathways and looking at roles for ‘navigators’ to assist people through services – the thought being they would probably take a wide role in supporting access for people with a range of LTCs rather than focus solely on dementia.
We also reviewed the LTC element of the DHBs annual plan which is almost complete.
As ever if anyone has any opinions / questions / feedback for the group I would be happy to convey this / try to answer questions."
The 2015 Russell Conference is shaping up. Its theme is the urgent and contagious. All attendees who register before the closing date for early bid registration will be in the draw for a bottle of wine. Please click here to register
This year the Faculty has invited Year 5 and 6 medical students based in Northland to present interesting cases that they have been involved with during their GP attachments. The students will do a poster presentation and GPs will be invited to select a winning poster (with a $250 prize attached).
Our highlighted presenter this week is Brandon Wong. Brandon is known to most of us as a highly approachable physician based at Whangarei Hospital. His talk is titled All puffed out and nowhere to go. Brandon will present a number of different cases, that he sees referred to him from general practice, illustrating the myriad of causes of shortness of breath.
Four weeks to go until early bird registration ends for the annual Northland Faculty RNZCGP conference Medical Clap in Russell: The urgent and contagious. Register now!
A guest speaker is John Kennelly. John is a senior lecturer in the Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care at the University of Auckland and a GP for a Pacific Health Trust. One of John's interests is the management of soft tissue infections. His talk is titled 'Mr T' needs you. The challenge of reducing soft tissue infections in our community
New Zealand has the highest incidence of Staphylococcus aureus disease among developed countries with the highest rates in Maori and PI people. Most disease is due to methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA). There has been a steady and significant increase in S. aureus infections over the past few years predominantly due to a rise in non-invasive community-associated MSSA. The result of this large pool of soft tissue skin infections (STSI) is the unacceptable rate of osteomyelitis and septic arthritis in Maori and PI children. The presentation will discuss a GP approach to this public health disaster. The presentation is in two parts: 1. a recent case from his practice in West Auckland ('Mr T') demonstrates the difficulty of early recognition of dangerous STSI complications and a useful clinical prediction rule 2. a brief description of a proposed general practice/public health approach to controlling the spread of S aureus in our community.
The Northland Clinical Governance Forum is a collective of NDHB, PHO and Faculty representatives that provide clinical governance on issues impacting on integration and the primary-secondary interface. Three Faculty Board members sit on the Clinical Governance Forum - Geoff Cunningham, Mark Lankshear and Kyle Eggleton. The second meeting of the Clinical Governance Forum was held on the 25th February and a summary of the meeting is presented below. What is important to note is that many of the issues raised by GPs and discussed on the Faculty website were discussed at the Clinical Governance Forum and helped to guide the Board members in representing the views of GPs. The Board would like to encourage GPs to continue to express their views on issues by posting concerns on the website. This ongoing dialogue will result in the voice of GPs being heard at a higher decision making level.
Northland DHB has agreed to implement the Canterbury Health Pathways in Northland. These are a collection of primary care pathways that have been designed by GPs in Canterbury. Ultimately the pathways will be available directly within GPs PMS e.g. MedTech or MyPractice. One of the issues that the Faculty reps raised was the importance of Northland GPs being involved in the 'Northlandisation' of the pathways. A way that this could be achieved was if each peer group was given a pathway to review and ensure that it was relevant to Northland and practical. This could be achieved if each peer group nominated one person to attend a brief meeting discussing the implementation and review of pathways and then chose a pathway to take back to their peer group. Please let the Board know what your thoughts are on this idea by following this link.
We all hate the words "GPs to chase...". The NDHB has drafted a policy on expectations relating to followup of results. This goes a long way to addressing many of the issues that we as GPs have with transfer of care documents. A summary of the policy is as follows:
Overall the Faculty Board endorses the draft policy. However the Faculty reps did raise the ongoing issue of inaccuracy of the NDHB GP databases with results and letters often going to the wrong GP or practice. We have been reassured that NDHB is aware if the issue and that there are some long term plans to improve things.
Early bird registration for the Northland Faculty RNZCGP conference is now open. Preliminary programme and conference details are available on the Faculty's website. Register now and join your colleagues!
A forum for GPs has been developed on the Faculty website. This gives Northland GPs the ability to comment on issues that frustrate them or makes them hot under the collar. Also provides an opportunity for the Faculty Board to be informed of grassroots GP concerns. Current comments by GPs on the forum relate to followup of blood tests ordered by specialists, timeliness of discharge letters and clinic letters and lack of GP input into clinical pathways. The Faculty Board invites GPs to contribute to the forum.
The Board of the Northland Faculty met on the 18th November. A brief summary of the minutes are below. Full minutes can be found on the website.
Survey sent by Survey Monkey to 51 GPs who had attended the Waitangi Symposium. The response rate was low however the Faculty Board is still interested in receiving feedback from its members to assist it in setting a strategic direction.
How would you rate the Waitangi Symposium?
| V poor | Poor | Good | V good | Excellent | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 4 |
| Percent | 0 | 0 | 20 | 53 | 27 |
What were the things that you enjoyed about the Waitangi Symposium?
| Themes | Number |
|---|---|
| Collegiality | 7 |
| 15min talks | 6 |
| Local GP experiences[1] | 4 |
| Venue | 3 |
| Topics relevant to general practice | 3 |
| Lunch | 2 |
What were some aspects of the Waitangi Symposium that could be improved?
| Themes | Number |
|---|---|
| Equipment[2] | 4 |
| More relevant topics | 2 |
| Signage | 1 |
| Time keeping | 1 |
| Coffee/tea on time | 1 |
| Venue | 1 |
Would you wish to see the Northland Faculty having a political advocacy role?
| Response | Number | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | 11 | 73 |
| No | 2 | 13 |
| Don’t know | 2 | 13 |
Comments
Comments related to wanting to have a local voice at local and national level. This was to emphasise Northland issues and advocate for greater resources and equitable funding for general practice.
Would you wish to see the Northland Faculty having a clinical advocacy role?
| Response | Number | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | 13 | 87 |
| No | 0 | 0 |
| Don’t know | 2 | 13 |
Comments
Comments related to having a voice on Northland wide projects and to support GPs in a collegial way, especially those who might be struggling
What sort of role would you like to see the Faculty have with the PHOs?
Respondants wanted the Faculty to be an intermediary and advocate for GPs with the PHOs
The Faculty is interested in supporting GPs in their first five years post PRIMEX. What ideas do you have on how to achieve this?
| Themes | Number |
|---|---|
| Mentoring | 5 |
| CME | 2 |
| Workforce planning | 1 |
| Placements | 1 |
What do you see as being the three priority areas for the Faculty?
First priority
| Themes | Number |
|---|---|
| Education | 5 |
| Workforce | 2 |
| Clinical governance | 2 |
| Communication | 2 |
| Political advocacy | 1 |
Second priority
| Themes | Number |
|---|---|
| Collegiality | 3 |
| Political advocacy | 2 |
| Clinical governance | 1 |
| Education | 1 |
| Mentoring | 1 |
| Workforce development | 1 |
Third priority
| Themes | Number |
|---|---|
| Political advocacy | 2 |
| Research | 2 |
| Workforce development | 2 |
| Communication | 2 |
| Clinical governance | 2 |
| Education | 1 |
Top three weighted priorities[3]:
How likely is it that you would recommend the activities of the Northland Faculty to a friend or colleague?
Result = 13[4]
The Goodfellow Symposium 2015 will be held at the Viaduct Events Centre, Auckland on 27 – 29 March. Now in its 10th year, the 2015 Goodfellow Symposium promises to be a worthwhile and enjoyable weekend for health professionals who want to update their clinical knowledge and practical skills, earn CME/CPD points and engage with others in the primary health care industry.
The multi-disciplinary programme will cater for general practitioners, primary health care nurses, pharmacists, urgent care physicians, registrars, specialists and others working in primary health care. The theme for the 2015 Symposium is “Skills for Next Monday”. The programme has been designed to provide engaging and informative sessions, the latest clinical updates and increased opportunities to participate in our popular practical sessions so you return to work armed with new knowledge and skills.
More information on the symposium can be found here.
Not Just a GP was an entirely apt title for the recent Waitangi symposium. Jon Wilcox, the only non-Northland presenter was impressed with the collegiality demonstrated by Northland GP's at the well attended symposium.
Our Northland GP's have a wealth of specialist skills and a wide variety of interests, from mindfulness and philosophical concepts to hard stats on overdiagnosis and 'Why GP's are better than Specialists' (perhaps best kept to ourselves!).
Inspiring GPwSIs presented their knowledge and experience raising issues around the relationship between GPwSIs and the DHB. These issues will be put on the agenda for the Board to further address. GPs who have a burning special interest and need support to to take the next step should contact the board via the website.
Successful GP lead local projects were presented. The relationship between Northlands A&D service and Dargaville’s detox unit was refreshing. Collaboration between GP's, pharmacists and practice staff proves that Northland is a great place to put these health ideas into action. Concerns about representation of GP's on boards when decisions are being made about health issues in Northland were raised and will also be put on the Board’s agenda.
Copies of the speakers presentations are available on the website. The website also includes resources for Northland GPs, photos from the symposium. as well as an opportunity to feedback to the Board who will now focus on the Faculty’s direction and the Russell Conference planning. Please review the rest of the website which now includes
The Faculty Board met at Kawakawa Hospital on the 29th September and discussed a number of issues. These included setting the Faculty direction, engagement with registrars, update on the Waitangi Symposium and planning for the annual Russell Conference.
Complete minutes are found here
The annual conference for the Northland Faculty RNZCGP has been booked for Russell on the 16th - 17th May 2015. Will be held at the Duke of Marlborough again due to popular demand. Speakers will be finalised later.
Meeting held 11th August 2014
It has been proposed that a Northland wide clinical governance forum be established to provide clinical governance across Northland. This group would particularly focus on clinical programmes involving both hospital and community services. Further work is required to establish the group.
Concern raised regarding the low uptake of Gardasil. Manaia PHO will look at what can be done to raise the profile of the vaccination.
IPIF will be replacing PPP. There will be initially four targets - cervical screening, cardiovascular risk assessment, smoking cessation brief advice (25% of funding each), immunisation at 8 months (15% of funding) and immunisation at 2 years (10% of funding). More targets are likely over time.
Smoking cessation brief advice was over achieved against the target. Cervical screening didn't meet the target. Vaccination rates achieved for 8 month olds but not for 2 year olds.
Subscribe to the Northland Faculty RNZCGP Newsletter and Blog to receive emailed updates by clicking the Keep in contact button on the About page. Education opportunities, conferences and general practice news pertinent to GPs in Northland will be shared
Early bird registration pricing for the annual Waitangi Symposium Not Just a GP is ending at the end of the month. Fees will increase to $60 from 1st September. Hurry now to register!
A members section has been added to the website. This contains minutes of Board meetings. This page is currently password protected and to access the page you will need to contact the site administrator. Additional pages been added include a site for locums to advertise and be contacted and a site for peer groups that are willing to be contacted by GPs wishing to join or guest speakers who would like to talk to a peer group. Please contact the site administrator to be added to this page