Alcohol and other drugs Archives | Page 2 of 4

29 January 2024

Important changes are underway to place stricter controls on e-cigarette and vaping products.

These include:

No more disposable vapes from overseas: As of 1 January 2024, a ban was placed on importing disposable single use vapes. This means, even if a patient has a prescription, they will no longer be able to import disposable single use vapes online from overseas.
No more personal vape imports: From 1 March 2024, the Personal Importation Scheme will cease for all vapes. After this, importers will need an import licence and permit.
Changes to access pathways: Special Access Scheme Category C is now available enabling medical and nurse practitioners’ access through the notification pathway.

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners is updating the Supporting smoking cessation: A guide for health professionals.

Draft interim guidance is now available and includes updated access pathways to help patients and young people stop vaping and smoking.

Find out more

Source: Health Update for Primary Care newsletter

19 October 2023

Our services, innovations, collaborations and commitment to improving the health of our community was on display today at SWSPHN’s first showcase since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Centring around the theme of ‘strengthening Medicare’, a room of about 50 people including PHN Board members, PHN member organisations, PHN staff, service providers, committee members and GPs, gathered in the Dharawal Room at Campbelltown Catholic Club.

We heard first from keynote speaker, Dr Stephen Duckett, Chair of the Eastern Melbourne PHN Board and former member of the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce, about the challenges facing general practice and primary care in the future.

Dr Duckett told the gathering there had been a steady decline in the number of medical students choosing general practice.

“What this means is that the world of primary medical care in 10 years’ time, 15 years’ time or 20 years’ time is going to be quite different from what it is today,” he said.

“There’s going to be more patients, and either the same, or a smaller number of general practitioners, so we’re going to have to think about different ways of doing things.”

SWSPHN staff then highlighted a small sample of some of the great work we do, including our innovative iRAD and New to General Practice Nursing projects, and an example of collaborative commissioning.

Kristen Short, Director of Innovation and Partnerships, showcased our iRAD interoperability solution which connects health providers who are providing care for the same patient.

“With iRAD, we just need to consent the patient and the information will flow, and be available once they return to their regular GP,” she said.

Ms Short said South Western Sydney was the first location in Australia to have true interoperability working “which was super exciting”.

So far, 85 practices are connected to iRAD, a psychiatrist and after hours clinics, and Ms Short said we were looking to expand locally to add another 35 practices in the next few months.

“One of my favourite quotes from one of our providers is ‘I can’t do my job without iRAD’, they see so much value in it.

“We’ve been working very hard for a few years on being able to view hospital information through iRAd. It will be a complete game changer for GPs to be able to quickly see any information if a patient is admitted to the emergency department or hospital.”

SWSPHN’s Kristina Allen, Clinical Support Team Lead, and Lisa Cerruto, Clinical and Quality Improvement Officer, gave an overview of the New to General Practice Nursing program which provides support for nurses who are new, returning or transitioning to general practice within South Western Sydney.

Val Burge, SWSPHN Mental Health and Alcohol and Other Drugs Program Coordinator, followed with a presentation about working with service providers to have a greater impact on client outcomes, giving our work with the St Vincent de Paul Society’s Rendu House clients as an example.

Stephen Suttie, Senior Operations Manager at Neami National, gave a presentation on the new, SWSPHN-commissioned Liverpool Head to Health Centre, a free, walk-in, mental health and wellbeing support service which opened in August.

He discussed the benefits of working in partnership with SWSPHN to engage the community through the codesign process to deliver the best service they could. “What we deliver is a service that is there for people when they need it … which is really closely integrated with the community.”

SWSPHN Chief Executive Officer, Dr Keith McDonald PhD, closed the showcase with an exploration of SWSPHN’s new Employee Value Proposition – A Healthy Community. A Healthy Career. Right here, where you’re really needed – which not only tells, but shows why SWSPHN is a great place to work.

Watch the staff EVP video

Following the showcase, Board members met for SWSPHN’s AGM where our 2022-2023 Annual Report, which highlights even more of the significant body of work undertaken by our dedicated and passionate staff during the last financial year.

Read our Annual Report

25 August 2023

There is no known safe amount of alcohol which can be consumed during pregnancy.

9.09am on the 9th day of the 9th month is observed every year in recognition of the importance of being alcohol free for the nine months of a pregnancy.

International FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder) Awareness Day highlights the risks of prenatal alcohol exposure.

Visit Every Moment Matters for information about FASD.

25 August 2023

Australia is lagging behind its treatment targets for people living with chronic hepatitis B.

ASHM has published a suite of resources to support clinicians at the time of diagnosis to refer patients on to community s100 prescribers.

The resources, launched as part of the ‘Hep B care. It’s primary care, too.’ campaign provide guidance for diagnosing clinicians, including a map to find local primary care prescribers of specialised hepatitis B medicine, as well as practical clinical communications tools to support the referral.

Understanding the available referral pathways is one of the best ways clinicians can support patients with hepatitis B.

Access the resources

01 August 2023

What do the changes mean for me and my patients?

The Australian Government is implementing positive change to Opioid Dependency Treatment (ODT) to make medicines for opioid dependency more equitable and affordable for Australians on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Schedule (PBS).

These changes are a win for patients, and are long needed.

Implementation is still progressing and there are logistical issues to work through.

SWSPHN will endeavour to keep GPs up-to-date as further information becomes available.

From 1 July 2023, ODT medicines have become part of the Section 100 Highly Specialised Drugs (HSD) Program.

At the Opioid Therapies Webinar on 30 June, David Laffan, Assistant Secretary, Pharmacy Branch – Department of Health and Aged Care, said:

“The Australian Government has agreed to continue to pay pharmaceutical companies directly for ODT medicines supplied to private clinic and non-other PBS dosing sites until 30 November 2023, and this includes GP clinics that order the long acting injectables directly.

“After 30 November, GP clinics will be able to administer long acting injectables by obtaining supplies from a PBS pharmacy, which is more in line with how the usual PBS operates.

“Transitional arrangements are in place for pharmacies to dispense existing private ODT medicine prescription written prior to 1 July. Patients will not require new prescriptions to be written from 1 July.

“From 1 July, ODT medicines scripts can be written as a streamline authority script for 28 days with two repeats.”

Prescribers will be able to:

prescribe ODT medicines for PBS-eligible patients, as per the prescription of other medicines under the Section 100 HSD Program
for Methadone oral liquid, prescribe up to a maximum quantity of 4,200 mg (840 mL) with two repeats (the maximum quantity is equivalent to up to a maximum dose of Methadone of 150 mg per day for 28 days)
for sublingual Buprenorphine and Buprenorphine with Naloxone, prescribe up to a maximum quantity equivalent to 32mg of Buprenorphine per day for 28 days, with two repeats
for injectable Buprenorphine, prescribe up to a maximum quantity equivalent to 28 days (four weeks) with two repeats.

Buprenorphine-containing ODT medicines will be prescribed and dispensed on a per pack basis, Methadone liquid will be prescribed and dispensed on a maximum mL basis per prescription.

Prescribers are encouraged to prescribe only the quantities and repeats which are suitable for the patient’s clinical needs, until their next review.

To prescribe any doses higher than outlined above, GPs will need to obtain PBS Authority Approval by calling Service Australia (1800 888 333) or by using the Online PBS Authority System to obtain an authority number.

Dispensing:

Under Section 100 HSD program, ODT medicines can be dispensed from a section 90 approved community pharmacy, a section 94 public or private hospital and a section 92 approved medical practitioners.

What does this mean for patients?

For patients, this change “rights an historical inequity for a group of people that have been marginalised and stigmatised” (Dr Hester Wilson, GP and chair of RACGP Specific Interest Group in Addiction Medicine, Opioid Therapies Webinar, 30 June).

Eligible patients will pay the PBS-copayment to access their treatment and the amount paid will contribute towards their PBS Safety Net threshold.

This means a patient will pay $7.30 or $30 (depending on concessional status) per 28 days rather than the current out of pocket costs of $30 to $75 per week for ODT scripts. Patients currently receiving free Buprenorphine injections, though, will now be charged a co-payment of $7.30 or $30 (depending on concessional status) per 28 days.

Additional private dispensing or dosing fees cannot be charged by section 90 community or section 94 hospital pharmacies under the PBS.

Note that Close the Gap (CTG) co-payment discount will NOT apply at this stage.

What does this mean for pharmacies?

To support in-pharmacy and take-away dosing, a community pharmacy program for ODT medicines will be established, including on-site pharmacist administration of injectable Buprenorphine.

Source: Australian Government, Department of Health and Aged Care, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme – Updated 10 July 2023

Watch these webinars:

A SWSPHN Community of Practice – Changes to Opioid Dependence Treatment Prescribing – Online Meeting will be held on Thursday, 10 August at 7pm.

This is an opportunity to improve your understanding of the new requirements and discuss the changes with local ODT subject matter experts, including GPs.

This is an RACGP session for 1.5 CPD hours.

Find out more:

07 July 2023

The Centre for Alcohol and Other Drugs, NSW Ministry of Health, is seeking GPs to participate in paid online focus groups about GP engagement with the Opioid Treatment Program (OTP).

The OPT provides life-saving treatment to people living with opioid dependence. The aim of these focus groups is to gather a diverse range of perspectives from GPs who have had experience or are interested in engaging with the OTP.

Eligibility

If you are…

A GP primarily working in general practice, AND
Have an interest in the OTP, OR
You are already prescribing OTP medication for up to five patients

the centre wants to hear from you!

How to Register

The centre will be conducting four, one-hour, online focus groups at the times listed below:

6pm, Monday, 17 July
7.30pm, Tuesday, 18 July
7.30am, Thursday, 20 July
12pm, Friday 21 July

Click here to register. You will then receive a calendar invitation confirming your attendance.

Payment

GPs who participate will be paid at the rate of $120 for the hour. Participation is limited to one focus group per person.

Confidentiality

Please note: participation in the focus groups is confidential, and all data collected will be anonymised and used solely for research purposes.

For more information about this project, contact Kristina.Gavrilovic@health.nsw.gov.au

23 May 2023

SWSPHN had the opportunity to showcase a new project which aims to address issues facing clients in Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) treatment, who have complex needs which impact their ability to maintain good health and remain in treatment, at a recent conference.

The Psychoeducation Module Project was presented at the Network of Alcohol and other Drugs Agencies (NADA) Conference on 11 and 12 May.

The project was a collaboration between SWSPHN, St Vincent de Paul, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC), and 360 Edge, and will deliver individual programs for clients of Rendu House’s Complex Support Needs Program.

The presentation, titled ‘A collaborative approach to plan, implement, and evaluate a psychoeducational program for clients with complex support needs’, was given alongside several other keynote speakers, presentations and panels providing valuable Alcohol and Other Drugs knowledge and insight.

10 May 2023

The strong focus on primary care, with the tripling of the bulk billing incentive and investment in the health workforce to better meet the health needs of the Australians in the 21st century, were among the welcome features of Tuesday’s Federal Budget.

South Western Sydney Primary Health Network (SWSPHN) Acting Chief Executive Officer, Kristen Short, said there was little doubt primary care had been struggling in recent years, with fewer practices in a position to bulk bill, further highlighting the need for strong and ongoing funding commitment for the sector.

“The $3.5 billion committed to bulk billing incentives, $98.2 million for new Medicare rebates for patients who require consultations of longer than 60 minutes and $445.1 million to support team-based care in general practice, are welcome measures to support the revival and protection of a healthcare system which has served us well for decades,” she said.

Other investments of interest to primary care, in particular general practices in South Western Sydney include:

$358.5 million for Medicare Urgent Care Clinics
$143.9 million for after hours primary care
$91.5 million to improve mental health by addressing workforce shortages

Ms Short said SWSPHN had a particular focus on innovative projects like iRAD, the New to General Practice Nursing program and My Care Partners to build capacity and support our general practices in delivering accessible, effective and timely care to our community.

She noted investment in digital health ($951.2 million); increasing the number of nurses in primary care ($10.7 million); and increasing incentives for general practices to employ a range of health professionals to provide team-based primary care ($445.1 million) would support those projects which were already improving the health of our region.

“Primary care is the cornerstone of our healthcare system, and SWSPHN looks forward to continuing to work with and support primary care providers across our region on the projects, services and other activities funded in this budget.

“We particularly welcome the focus in the budget on multidisciplinary team care and voluntary patient enrolment and look forward to seeing how it complements our local medical neighbourhood model of care, My Care Partners, which has been working for the past two years to reduce avoidable hospital admissions and enhance care coordination for people with multiple chronic diseases.”

17 April 2023

The NSW Ministry of Health is continuing work to improve the efficiency of regulating the supply of Schedule 8 medicines in NSW.

Several initiatives which aim to streamline the process to apply for an authority to prescribe and/or supply a Schedule 8 medicine under the Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act 1966 (NSW) will be introduced in 2023.

New NSW OTP authority application forms now available

The majority of application forms were reviewed and updated at the end of 2022. The final stage of the review of application forms is now complete with four new forms related to the management of patients under the NSW Opioid Treatment Program, are available for use.

The new OTP authority application forms:

will assist with management of patients under the NSW Opioid Treatment Program and support new protocols for treatment
are PDF editable and are accessible on the NSW Health website
replace the old OTP authority application forms which were on the NSW Health website and in the OTP Clinical Guidelines
align with the online process for applying for authorities which will be available to health practitioners later this year as part of new features being released within SafeScript NSW

Prescribers of OTP are encouraged to:

access the new OTP forms via the NSW Health website to ensure you are using the latest version of the forms
delete any old forms that have been downloaded and saved locally as templates
dispose of any blank hard copies of the old forms

Prescribers with existing authority to prescribe OTP will not be expected to reapply for existing patients with the new OTP forms. The new OTP forms should be used for new applications submitted on or after 6 April 2023. There will be a short transition period after which the old forms will no longer be accepted.

Updated Centre for Alcohol and other Drugs guidelines are also available to guide practitioners on using microdosing or bridging transfer techniques.

Upcoming system changes

On 1 May, the system used by NSW Health to process authority applications will change. During this time, there may be delays in responding to enquiries and delays in the processing of authority applications.

From 12pm on Friday, 28 April, the system to process applications will be unavailable.

Applications received after 12pm may not be processed until Monday, 1 May.

Where applications for authority are anticipated, in the week of 24 to 28 April, consider submitting applications prior to 12pm on Friday, 28 April where possible to avoid delays in processing of applications.

If you have any questions or would like to provide feedback, please email MOH-PharmaceuticalServices@health.nsw.gov.au

02 November 2022

SWSPHN’s Mental Health and Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) team facilitated the 6th annual Mental Health and Alcohol and Other Drugs Roundtable event at Rydges Campbelltown on Tuesday, 1 November.

Each year, the roundtable brings together key stakeholders who support people experiencing mental health and/or alcohol and other drug issues in our region with the aim of fostering collaboration between service providers and strategising the integration of multidisciplinary care for people experiencing co-morbidity issues.

This year, we welcomed Dr Elizabeth Conroy from Western Sydney University to speak on insights from a research perspective of mental health and AOD co-morbidity. Russell Bickford from Odyssey House NSW and Benjamin Ong from Head to Health also inspired participants with organisational experience with integration.

Other guest speakers included community members with living experience and Rush Electra from the South Western Sydney Local Health District Drug Health team discussing the role of the Drug Health Consumer Engagement Manager and service integration.

The event concluded with a brainstorming session about the Organisations’ Action Plan (OAP), where participants talked about how organisations can improve coordination and integration of Mental Health and AOD support for consumers residing in South Western Sydney.