Managing respiratory illness in general practice

This session will provide ideas and tools for general practices to safely resume seeing respiratory patients face-to-face.

With Victorian Government funded general practice respiratory clinics expected to close on October 31, there will be an increased demand on general practice to treat respiratory patients face to face. Many practices have already been managing these patients and hold a range of learnings and knowledge to share.  

This session will showcase different models of care that have been implemented by a variety of general practices across Victoria that have allowed them to safely treat and care for their patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

It will also examine infection control protocols, and the clinical steps and processes to be followed to ensure there is reduced risk of transmission between patients and staff.  

Speakers

Carolyn Billington currently works as the practice manager at Port Fairy Medical Clinic. She also works as a registered nurse and feeding consultant at the clinic.  

The COVID-19 pandemic saw Port Fairy Medical Clinic pivot quickly to ensure that the large nursing home and elderly community of Port Fairy were forefront of their business decisions, with some of these strategies still being in place today.  

Carolyn’s wish is that every patient receives a positive and inclusive experience every time they enter any of the 3 Port Fairy Medical Clinic locations.  

Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, a general practitioner in Altona North since 1991, co-founded the North Altona Health Hub and merged 2 local practices into the Altona North Medical Group. He also founded Cirqit Health.  

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Haikerwal drove transformative health care changes, including car park testing, video consultations, and deploying clinical health assistants and scribes. Cirqit Health also led the Altona North Respiratory Clinic, Victoria’s first federally funded GP-led COVID-19 screening and testing clinic. 

In 2018 he was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia. He has held high offices locally and internationally, receiving numerous accolades throughout his career. 

Learning outcomes:

By the end of this activity, participants will be able to:

• Describe models of care that can be implemented in a general practice to safely manage respiratory patients
• Demonstrate an understanding of infection control measures to ensure reduced risk of transmission