Topic: Workforce

Practice managers will learn about Success in any setting: leveraging your team and resources for practice growth, in the next of the GP Living 101 series of workshops.

The webinar will be held on Wednesday, 7 May, from 7pm to 8.30pm.

GP Living 101 began last year and recognises the importance of providing holistic support to our general practice workforce, which is increasingly under pressure and suffering burnout from growing workloads.

It aims to share localised, practical advice on running practices more efficiently, and the tools to improve the wellbeing of staff.

It will outline the benefits of:

This webinar aims to equip practice managers with effective strategies to leverage their teams for practice growth while fostering a collaborative and supportive work environment.

• • • • fostering team dynamics
      • implementing team-based solutions to improve patient flow
      • developing skills in communication and delegation

The speaker is Kim Poyner, the Director of MediCoach.

The next GP Living 101 webinar, Motivational interviewing: coaching your patients, is for GPs and practice nurses and will be held on Tuesday, 26 June. Read your Friday CPD email or Practice Pulse to find out how to register closer to the date.

Explore upcoming GP Living 101 events and practical workshops for health professionals in 2025 by visiting GP Living 101: practical workshops for health professionals in 2025.

When Dr Land Phan of Eagle Vale Medical Centre signed up for the trauma informed care training on offer by SWSPHN she had no idea of the impact it would have on her professional and personal knowledge.

The training, provided by the Blue Knot Foundation, equips GPs and other primary care providers in South Western Sydney with the tools to better recognise complex trauma and possible health presentations in their patients, while also supporting the clinician’s ability to cope with what comes as a result of such care.

Dr Phan said she had known about the Blue Knot Foundation but had not had the opportunity to attend their courses due to cost and time constraints.

“I expressed my interest to SWSPHN when they offered to cover the training course because even though I do not seek it, trauma finds me,” Dr Phan said. “I was also worried that I was starting to experience symptoms of burnout and possibly vicarious trauma from my work as a GP.”

The two courses she chose were “Managing Wellbeing and Recognising Vicarious Trauma” and “Trauma Sensitive Practice – Working with Complex Trauma”.

On the day of the first course Dr Phan said it didn’t take her long “to realise the breadth and wealth of experience and wisdom in the room”.

“It was overwhelming and so humbling to listen to everyone’s experiences in their work,” she said.

“I was also surprised to learn this was not just a course for doctors: this ended up being one of the best things about the course. I sat next to an interpreter, an ICU nurse and a counsellor working in Family and Community Services.”

Although at first Dr Phan wondered whether the material would be relevant for her it didn’t take long to realise just how useful such training can be.

“As a GP, I understand the barriers to attending – time and cost just being two among them. But to my colleagues I would say this: the lessons I took away from these courses will not only allow me to be a better doctor, but also a better human being in general,” she said.

“New concepts and those I only knew of in passing were fleshed out for us, and guidance given for further learning about topics such as Vicarious Resilience, Self-Compassion, Polyvagal Theory, Safety and Stabilisation, Internal Family Systems therapy and staying in the window of tolerance.

“Hearing from clinicians with deep expertise in working with people with trauma helped remind me how positive relational experiences can heal – including the therapeutic doctor-patient relationship.

“In the midst of a mental health crisis in NSW – with access to psychiatrists even scarcer now – GPs remain at the forefront of helping people to stay well mentally. Our work is more important than ever – and this is one of the tools which will enable me to keep doing what I love.”

However, Dr Phan was surprised to hear from one of the instructors she was the first GP who had ever attended one of their trauma informed care training sessions.

“That saddens me,” she said. “I have already begun encouraging other GPs and nursing staff in the region to attend and I am so thankful for the amazing learning opportunity.

“I would like to share a quote which reminds us to not lose sight of our humanity in the midst of doctoring.”

‘Self-compassion entails seeing one’s own experiences in light of the common human experience, acknowledging that failure, suffering and inadequacies are part of the human condition, and that all people – oneself included are worthy of compassion.’ – Kristen Neff

The trauma informed care training courses aim to teach primary care providers about well-being and self-care when working with clients who have complex trauma.

They offer knowledge, skills and tools to better recognise early signs of various stress outcomes as well as information about trauma, the impacts of trauma and the neurobiological responses which occur in order to offer understanding about the key features of complex trauma which can present in your working relationships, and the resourcing and regulation available to support you in your practice.

Explore trauma informed care training course options here

The Workforce Incentive Program Practice Stream offers financial incentives to help general practices employ additional health professionals. This funding gives practices more flexibility to respond to their patients’ needs, from managing chronic conditions to supporting older Australians. Despite these benefits, some practices in South Western Sydney aren’t yet accessing this valuable funding.

For the first half of this year SWSPHN will approach eligible practices to gain insight and offer support to utilise and maximise this incentive.

What is the Workforce Incentive Program Practice Stream?

The Workforce Incentive Program Practice Stream (WIP – Practice Stream) encourages multidisciplinary, team-based care by providing financial incentives for practices to engage (through direct employment, contracted, casual or other means) the following professionals:

• nurses
• midwives
• allied health professionals
• audiologists
• chiropractors
• diabetes educators
• dietitians/nutritionists
• exercise physiologists
• occupational therapists
• orthoptists
• orthotists/prosthetists
• osteopaths
• paramedics
• pharmacists (non-dispensing role) conditions apply
• physiotherapists
• podiatrists
• psychologists
• social workers
• speech pathologists
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers and practitioners

This funding is designed to complement existing services, enabling practices to offer more comprehensive care for patients with complex or chronic conditions.

How much funding is available?

Practices can receive up to $130,000 per year, with additional rural loadings available. Payments are calculated based on:

• your practice’s Standardised Whole Patient Equivalent (SWPE)
• types of health professionals employed
• average hours worked by these professionals

Who is eligible?

To participate in the Workforce Incentive Program Practice Stream, your practice must meet the following requirements:

1. employ at least one full- or part-time GP
2. be accredited, or registered for accreditation, against the RACGP Standards
3. (if applicable) maintain eligibility for the Practice Incentives Program (PIP)
4. hold public liability insurance of at least $10 million for each practice location

For full eligibility details, refer to Workforce Incentive Program Practice Stream Guidelines (41 pages).

How it works

Services Australia administers the program, and the process is straightforward:

Report: Each quarter, your practice reports the health professionals employed and their average hours worked.

Review: Services Australia provides a statement for your confirmation or corrections.

Receive payment: Once the statement is returned, the funding is paid directly to your practice.

Why take part?

Participating in the WIP – Practice Stream helps your practice:

• engage more health professionals through direct employment, contracted, casual or other means
• expand the range of services you can offer
• better meet the needs of patients with chronic or complex conditions

By increasing participation, we can also strengthen the healthcare system overall—improving patient access, reducing strain on hospitals and addressing workforce shortages, especially in rural and under-served areas.

How your practice is supported to implement WIP – Practice Stream

We understand misconceptions about program complexity and perceived administrative burden may hold some practices back. That’s why SWSPHN is working to:

• raise awareness of the WIP – Practice Stream
• survey eligible practices to gain insights on how the WIP – Practice Stream may already be used and what roadblocks exist
• address knowledge gaps about its benefits and processes
• support practices to adopt multidisciplinary care models
• support practices to apply for the WIP – Practice Stream

We are here to help

SWSPHN’s Service Support team have a special focus on increasing WIP-Practice Stream participation in our region and ensuring practices already accessing the WIP-Practice Stream are supported to enhance the current use of multidisciplinary teams within their practice.

Speak to your Practice Support Officer or Practice Advancement Officer or call us on 4632 3000 or email enquiries@swsphn.com.au

• Read more on the Department of Health and Aged care website
• Apply for the Workforce Incentive Program Practice Stream

SWSPHN is calling on local general practices and general practice staff to complete our first region-wide General Practice Census.

The General Practice Census will inform the Greater Western Sydney Workforce Strategy, which SWSPHN is developing in partnership with Western Sydney PHN and Nepean-Blue Mountains PHN.

The General Practice Census is made up of a practice-wide survey followed by a health practitioner survey.

This year the General Practice Census is replacing our annual practice profiles, and GP/GP registrar and practice nurse profiles, and aims to gather data which is recent, relevant and accurate, creating a ‘snapshot’ of the current workforce climate in South Western Sydney.

Why is this important?

Firstly, it will help identify gaps in our local general practice workforce and highlight areas needing improvement and action. The information will be used to develop policies and programs which address the needs of the population and improve access to primary care services in our region.

Secondly, it will identify the strengths and weaknesses of our region’s workforce. This information will be used to develop training programs which address gaps in the knowledge and skills of our healthcare professionals.

Finally, it will help identify which factors influence the recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals in our region. This information will be used to develop strategies which improve recruitment and retention rates, which can lead to improved quality of care and better health outcomes for patients.

The Practice Census will influence recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals in our region.

How will the practice-wide survey be conducted?

Practice managers (or the primary contact nominated by the practice) will be sent a unique URL link to a Survey Manager form. The nominated contact will then complete and submit the practice-wide survey.

The practice-wide survey will be divided into a number of topic areas and can be easily completed over a number of days if required. Topic areas may include services offered at your practice, practice accreditation status and information management.

Once the practice-wide survey is complete, the same process will be followed for staff (that is, GPs and GP registrars, and practice nurses) who will be asked to complete health practitioner surveys.

Practices which are paper-based or have opted out of receiving email from SWSPHN, should contact their Practice Support Officer or Practice Advancement Officer for assistance.

Why take the time to complete the surveys?

By completing the surveys, general practices will:

• ensure SWSPHN has accurate and current data which will allow us to tailor the support we provide to your practice’s specific needs. For you, this means better guidance, resources and assistance, ultimately leading to enhanced efficiency and effectiveness
• be easily identified as eligible for incentives as they are released. These incentives can significantly benefit the practice financially and operationally
• empower SWSPHN to advocate effectively on behalf of primary care at strategic and policy levels, as with the Greater Western Sydney Workforce Strategy. This advocacy can lead to favourable policy changes, increased funding and improved healthcare infrastructure in the region. It will also help identify future challenges, such as an ageing workforce, and allow a proactive approach to overcoming these challenges
• be able to easily identify areas for improvement within individual practices. Participating practices will be signalling their commitment to continuous quality improvement, which can enhance patient outcomes, satisfaction and overall practice performance
• help to capture comprehensive and wide-ranging data about practices and their workforce. This includes information about their staff, hours worked, opening hours of the practice and services provided. By gathering such comprehensive data, the General Practice Census will provide the big picture of each practice’s operations, needs and the current primary care landscape in South Western Sydney

When will you receive your practice-wide survey?

The unique link to the practice-wide survey will be distributed at the beginning of August 2024.

GPs, GP registrars and practice nurses listed on the practice-wide survey will receive a different unique URL link from February 2025 to complete a health practitioner survey.

How will we keep the data secure?

The data provided will be securely stored on our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform ChilliDB.

SWSPHN will use the information you provide about your healthcare services and practitioner details to keep your details up to date in our CRM platform.

SWSPHN also uses de-identified aggregated data on healthcare services and practitioner numbers in our region to inform health system improvements, needs assessment, and clinical needs analysis, including workforce planning.

In the event that SWSPHN is provided access to details and information about your healthcare services and you are not operating within SWSPHN’s catchment, we will not use the information you provide about your healthcare services for any purpose without your explicit consent.

Share your experiences and ideas

General practice workforce shortages combined with an increasing demand for medical services as the population grows, has prompted the Fairfield City Health Alliance (FCHA) to investigate options to ensure local residents have continued access to quality healthcare.

The FCHA is a partnership between South Western Sydney PHN (SWSPHN), South Western Sydney Local Health District (SWSLHD), Fairfield City Council and community, which supports a healthier population through a variety of projects which target areas of need.

The FCHA Options Paper is investigating the current primary care workforce landscape in Fairfield Local Government Area (LGA) and will present actionable recommendations to the council as to how to invest in and support general practices.

Why focus on Fairfield LGA?

Fairfield LGA’s community faces unique challenges, including a population which:

• is expected to grow by about 37,000 residents from almost 211,000 in 2021 to almost 248,000 by 2041
• is highly socio-economically disadvantaged
• is culturally and linguistically diverse, with 56 per cent of residents born overseas and 70 per cent speaking a language other than English at home. This diversity creates barriers to accessing healthcare due to low health literacy, limited knowledge of the Australian healthcare system and financial constraints
• has resultant elevated rates of poor health and chronic disease, including higher rates of arthritis, diabetes and heart and kidney disease compared to the greater Sydney area

In addition, many GP registrars do not speak another language putting them at a disadvantage when consulting with a multicultural population, and creating both language and cultural barriers to providing the most effective care.

Fairfield LGA’s general practices also face challenges, including:

• workforce shortages – 11 general practices have closed since 2023
• an ageing GP workforce – the median age of GPs in Fairfield LGA is 59 years
• large number of solo GP practices (one GP) – 64.5 per cent
• poor staff retention – due to high workloads and poor financial incentives
• poor GP training capacity a large percentage of practices are non-accredited (cannot supervise GPs in training); 50.5 per cent compared to 16.2 per cent nationally
• only 6 per cent of the city’s 108 practices have a GP registrar compared with 19 per cent across the wider South Western Sydney region

The drop in GP numbers is expected to reduce access to general practice, potentially overburdening the remaining GPs and hospital system and decreasing employment opportunities for practice nurses and allied health.

What are the priorities for Fairfield LGA?

The FCHA Options Paper project follows feedback gathered through SWSPHN’s Local Health Forums in March/April last year which focused on ‘Supporting the primary care workforce’, attracted more than 80 participants from across South Western Sydney and elicited more than 1,000 responses to questions.

Community and general practice surveys on the same topic complemented the face-to-face forums and gave an additional 44 locals the opportunity to have their say.

The forums found increased funding and resources was the top priority for the wider region.

Primary care providers cited affordability, increasing wait times to see a health professional and low health literacy as the biggest challenges for patients. Community participants also raised affordability and wait times as barriers to visiting a GP, in addition to poor access to their preferred practice.

Other feedback included:

One survey respondent said: “Registrars prefer to work in private or mixed billing practices, usually located in inner city or city area”.

One forum participant said: “We can support health professionals by improving incentives to work in the region, also improving support for people to visit their doctor in a timely manner”.

How can you help improve access to primary care?

SWSPHN will be working closely with primary care providers including GPs and practice owners, local residents and community workers, including those from culturally and linguistically diverse and refugee communities, the hospital and the council as part of the investigation.

We are seeking a deeper understanding of the challenges impacting the primary care workforce in Fairfield LGA, including enablers and barriers to establishing new general practices, and improving succession planning in the region. We also want to know what makes it easier or harder to establish a new general practice and how we can better plan for the future.

Your experiences and ideas will be combined with quantitative data to develop a comprehensive overview of the issues affecting the primary care workforce in Fairfield LGA, and offer a path forward for the council to act upon.

Residents in the Fairfield LGA are invited to:

GPs strive to achieve the best outcomes for their patients by maintaining high performance and reducing errors. However, achieving this consistently can be challenging.

GPs, practice nurses, and practice managers are invited to join the first GP Living 101 workshop for 2025.

• Topic: Understanding Medical Negligence in General Practice
• Date: Thursday, 6 February 2025
• Time: 7pm to 8.30pm
• Audience: GPs, practice nurses, and practice managers
• CPD: Earn 1.5 Educational Activities hours by attending

GP Living 101 provides practical, localised advice to help practices operate more efficiently. It also equips staff with tools to enhance their wellbeing.

Between February and July, the series offers six interconnected CPD workshops. These sessions focus on key causes of burnout, including unrealistic expectations, leadership gaps, reactive health systems, and the risk of working in healthcare.

This year, GPs have an opportunity to earn RACGP-approved CPD hours.

In this workshop, Turner Freeman Lawyers’ Nicola Jandura will provide a comprehensive understanding of the law of medical negligence as it applies to busy general practices.

This includes defining what constitutes medical negligence, understanding actionable versus non-actionable claims, reviewing recent case law and key judicial insights in relation to claims concerning GPs, and offering practical risk management tips and strategies.

Register for the webinar

Upcoming workshops

The next GP Living 101 webinar, Navigating MyMedicare and Aged Care Incentive: Updates and Funding Changes, takes place on Tuesday, 11 March. Watch for registration details in your Friday CPD email or Practice Pulse.

For a full list of upcoming GP Living 101 workshops and webinars, visit this page.