As we enter the second half of the year, there are a number of things that are happening in the life of CSMP; we'll be welcoming new staff, as well as fareweling folks as they head out on new adventures, changes to medicare items, and updates to a few of our practice systems to improve care and safety on premises.

With that in mind, I'll be asking all clinical staff for confirmation of sessions so we can best handle these changes and manage the practices' resources.

To that end, GPs should click on the button below to confirm sessions and room requirements from August, 2022 to Feb, 2023 (please respond by Friday, 15th July):

Farewell Jess Guan and Prashna Gurung!

We're sadly saying farewell to two of our admin staff this month - Prashna Gurung (who began with us in April), and Jess Guan, who returned to us during the beginning of COVID.

Prashna had not previously worked in admin, but had worked in pathology and health policy before she joined us - she was a quick study and took just as quickly to the demands of the desk. She has moved to South Australia to be closer to family and the support network that that provides, and we wish her all the best wherever she may go.

Jess left us briefly, then returned in possibly the most difficult circumstances we had all faced. During that time, Jess has been instrumental in keeping many of the administrative services afloat, as well as assisting in the induction of new staff, policy review and quality improvement. She'll be finishing up with us on Thursday, 14th July to work with Dr Ben Jonker in the neurosurgery admin for his rooms at St Vincents and RPA. While it will be sad to say goodbye (again), we're thrilled that she'll be given the chance to further her skills and responsibilities within the health context.

We wish them both the very best as they head out from CSMP, and hope that our paths cross again sometime down the line!

Welcome Dr heather McKenzie!

We're thrilled to welcome Dr Heather McKenzie to the CSMP family! Heather will be joining us on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 19th July, and brings with her a wide range of skills and experience, particularly in indigenous health, paediatrics, chronic disease and reproductive health.

Heather can also lay claim to helping SWSLHD achieve the highest rates of COVID vaccination amongst Aboriginal people in NSW through her community involvement and engagement, and has published in a number of journals for her work with the NSW Cancer Institute on p16(INK4a) mutations in melanoma.

Please make Heather feel welcome as she joins us this month!

Welcome Nurse Kate Merritt!

We're also thrilled to announce that our nursing team will be joined by Kate Merritt! Kate trained as a registered nurse originally before joining the NSW Police Force. She has now returned to nursing, and we are the beneficiaries of her decision!

Kate will be with us on Mondays and Tuesdays!

Fee Increase...

The beginning of the new financial year sees our fees (and rebates) increase accordingly.

In addition, following the Doctors' Committee direction, the out-of-consult fee has now also risen to $30.

Please see the chart below for more details (NB: Level A-D equivalent fees apply to both face-to-face and telehealth items):

All practice policy information can now be found in the General channel within Microsoft Teams, as well as the most up-to-date list of MBS items.

If you've not logged in to Teams (or forgotten your log on), please contact me!

Duress Alarms and other gadgetry...

After much deliberation, CSMP has finally been able to begin rolling out our new duress system, with some tweaks:

• The image above represents the new Clinical Configuration of the buttons (based on an Elgato trigger-style device). From L-R: quick access to the CSMP staff portal, quick access to the Telehealth log-in, the panic button, and quick launch for Teams.
• The duress alarm triggers silently from the workstation from which it is initiated. All other workstations within the practice will flash a RED sign indicating that an alarm has been triggered and what location, at which point all staff should attend ASAP.
• The buttons themselves are attached to the workstation, but can be moved roughly 1m away should you need to have it on hand during a procedure.

It's my hope that the new setup will lead to fewer accidental triggerings, and the fact that it is much more customizable can lead to other benefits moving forward, too!

The actual units will be deployed gradually during July, with a proper test/drill scheduled for August. More info to come!

Sending Results to Patients...

With the most recent Best Practice update, we are now able to email patients results direct from their files (provided the result has been checked and the patient has consented to receive results in this form). The video below should help you in sending results to patients:

Coming Events...

As the School Holidays are upon us and with the large number of staff changes, there will be rolling site closures on Thursdays and Fridays until 22nd July.

This will hopefully accommodate the training of new staff as well as the induction of new clinical staff, as well as relieve pressure and demand for staffing on days when we only have 5-6 GPs working on-site.

To that end, 276 will be closed on the following days:

• Thurs 6th and Fri 7th July
• Tues 12th, Wed 13th, Thurs 14th and Fri 15th July
• Thurs 21st and Fri 22nd July

Thanks for your patience while we adjust to these changes!

For those on holidays during this period, please enjoy a very well-earned break. Now more than ever, the pressures on GPs are intensifying with little sign of the significant systemic change that needs to take place to relieve them; whatever CSMP can do to help, please don't hesitate to ask!