North Western Melbourne Primary Health Network (NWMPHN)

Did you know that over 230 languages are spoken in the North Western Melbourne Primary Health Network (NWMPHN) region? We've translated our explainer animations into some of the most common - with thanks to Ethnolink. See here: https://bit.ly/3WPY1BK

Join Asthma Australia for a live 90-minute webinar on 19 February 2025 to enhance your skills and elevate your approach to paediatric asthma care. For details and to register: https://bit.ly/3CDtlN8

• “Strongly recommend to colleagues to hone up their skills in diagnosing and treating chronic hepatitis B infections in their daily practice!” • “Excellent course! Speakers were relevant, easy to understand. Material was concise and easy to refer to.” • “A very useful course for general practitioners. Comprehensive and informative and relevant to general practice/primary care services.” Register for our CPD-approved Hepatitis B s100 Prescriber Course, starting 4 February, and become a prescriber today with our faculty of specialist presenters: Professor Ben Cowie, Dr Lester Mascarenhas, and Dr Nicole Allard: https://bit.ly/40G3U6X

New cases of measles have been reported in Victoria, all linked to travel in Vietnam where there is currently a large outbreak. To minimise the risk of transmission, the Victorian Department of Health advises clinicians to: - Avoid keeping patients with fever and rash in shared waiting areas, and send them to a separate room. - If measles is suspected, give the patient a single-use fitted mask and isolate under airborne precautions until a measles diagnosis can be excluded. - Leave all rooms that were used to assess the suspected case vacant for at least 30 minutes after the consultation. For Western Health information sheets you can provide patients in English or Vietnamese, head here: https://bit.ly/4hn124f

In Australia we are very fortunate, because we have a health system that provides free screens for three of the most common types of cancer – cervical, breast and bowel. And from July 2025 lung cancer gets added to that lifesaving list. Read more from NWMPHN CEO Christopher Carter in Star Weekly about why regular screening is so important: https://bit.ly/3E5tx8o

Recent feedback from health professionals indicates the NWMPHN-hosted Improving Childhood Asthma Management (ICAM) symposium, held in September, was a considerable success. Three quarters of attendees indicated they would make changes to their practice because of what they learned. “The willingness to engage in collaborative, multidisciplinary asthma care … will have a great impact on childhood asthma in our region,” said facilitator, Forsyth Park Medical Centre’s Dr Kirsty Tamis. Read more:

In a busy general practice, record-keeping can be a constant challenge. Maintaining an accurate database, however, is critically important for assessing patient needs, identifying opportunities for preventative care, and operating an effective recall and reminder process. The team at MyClinic Melbourne recently conducted a quality improvement exercise to reduce the number of their active patients with missing clinical and personal data items. See how they worked with North Western Melbourne Primary Health Network (NWMPHN) to improve data collection, resulting in a measurable impact on patient outcomes 👇

The end-of-year period can be lots of fun, but it can also turn into a time of stress and sadness. North Western Melbourne Primary Health Network (NWMPHN)'s guide to taking care of your mental health during this time was published this week in Star Weekly newspapers.

Like the practice of medicine itself, North Western Melbourne Primary Health Network (NWMPHN)'s approach to health care co-design and commissioning rests firmly on evidence. Finding that evidence, however, is not a simple process. Click below to read more about our Insight, Performance and Digital Services team, in the recently published NWMPHN 2023-24 Annual Report, which you can see here: https://bit.ly/41eHTN4