Headspace service announced for Hamilton
Western Victoria Primary Health Network (WVPHN) welcomed the announcement last week by the Commonwealth Government on the funding of a new headspace service in Hamilton.
The new headspace service will be a significant boost to mental health support for our young people in the region.
We will be working closely with local schools, the community, young people and headspace National to ensure headspace Hamilton meets the needs of our youth, particularly those aged between 12 and 25 years.
The new service will add to a broad suite of mental health services that WVPHN currently funds and supports across western Victoria.
Save the date for the 2022 Primary Care Refresher
The date has been announced for WVPHN’s 2022 Primary Care Refresher and I encourage health professionals to mark your calendars. The annual conference will be held over two days on 4-5 June.
This year the refresher has the theme The Journey of Primary Care Through A Pandemic.
Keynote speakers include Professor Michael Kidd (Deputy Chief Medical Officer and Principal Medical Advisor, Australian Government Department of Health) and Adj. Professor Ruth Stewart (National Rural Health Commissioner, Australian Government Department of Health.
Further information including the program and registration details will be announced soon.
WVPHN seeks input from support service providers on proposed new mental health and AOD service models
As WVPHN moves toward a place-based model when commissioning future services, I invite Mental Health and Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) support service providers to participate in one of a series of upcoming market sounding sessions.
WVPHN is committed to aligning future mental health and AOD services we commission with key state and federal government recommendations and is eager to get the perspective of support service providers.
A range of sessions are now open for registrations. Mental health and AOD organisations both large and small are invited to take part in the market sounding. This also includes both current and non-current providers in the WVPHN region.
JEV resources
Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV) has been detected in our region and a number of high-risk locations have been identified.
In response, our team has developed a new JEV vaccination webpage with key information and resources to keep general practice up to date. View the webpage here.
Lastly, with the Easter school holidays upon us and more people visiting areas of higher risk, I encourage health professionals to share the resources from Better Health Beat The Bite Campaign from Better Health on how to protect yourself and family from mosquito-borne disease and how to mozzie-proof your home. View the webpage here
Rowena Clift
Chief Executive Officer