GP Dinners in Horsham, Ballarat, Warrnambool and Geelong
Last night we held the first of our GP Dinners at baa 3400 in Horsham. It was fantastic to see so many Horsham health professionals at the event. The clinical speaker was WVPHN’s own, Michael Struth, who spoke on mental health and primary care.
We have another dinner planned at Mitchell Harris Wines in Ballarat tomorrow night, with Obstetrician Dr Natasha Frawley speaking.
Registrations are still open for dinners next week in Warrnambool and Geelong. The Warrnambool event will be held at the Pavillion Café and Bar on Tuesday 27 August and will feature South West Healthcare’s new Clinical Director for Mental Health and Wellbeing fresh from the UK, Dr Freddie Johansson. While our Geelong dinner on Wednesday 28 August at Truffleduck will feature Cardiologist Dr Ryan Spencer.
If you have time, and would like this opportunity to network, do some learning and eat some nice food, then we’d love to see you at one of the dinners.
Funding Confirmed for Priority Primary Care Centres/Urgent Care Centres
The Commonwealth and Victorian State Governments have reached agreement for a funding model for Medicare Urgent Care Clinics (UCCs) over 2024-25 and 2025-26 and state funded Priority Primary Care Centres (PPCCs) in 2024-25.
Western Victoria Primary Health Network (WVPHN) is pleased that an agreement has been reached so that these centres can continue to provide important care for the community.
The Ballarat and Geelong UCCs/PPCCs will provide 14 hours a day of care and the Warrnambool PPCC 12 hours of care, and all will remain instrumental in managing patient overflow from busy emergency departments (EDs). By partnering with busy EDs, they alleviate the strain on hospitals and Ambulance Victoria, reduce patient wait times, ensure that resources are available for the most critical cases and support better patient outcomes.
Craig Wilding, WVPHN CEO
21 August 2024