Quality improvement toolkits

Primary care providers have an important role in Closing the Gap – a National Agreement, and commitment by the Australian Government to achieve health equality and to improve the health, wellbeing, life expectancy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people within a generation. For general practices, making changes to support Closing the Gap include better patient identification, chronic disease prevention and management, and delivery of culturally appropriate care. There are more than 10,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our region.

This Closing the Gap Quality Improvement Workbook aims to provide guidance for GPs and their practice teams to identify and manage the health and wellbeing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in their care. It is a valuable tool to help practices to track their quality improvement (QI) progress and provide better care.

• Download the Closing the Gap workbook

  Whether you are new to quality improvement or an expert, this workbook provides easy to follow steps to take you through QI activities.  It can be used alongside the quarterly data reports that NWMPHN provide to practices

The workbooks have been created by general practice, for general practice, with input from NWMPHN teams and subject matter experts, and through consultation with the community and the broader primary care sector. 

This workbook can be used by practices and individual professionals as part of: 

• the Practice Incentives Program Quality Improvement (PIP QI) Incentive 

• RACGP accreditation standards 
• continuing professional development. 

Getting started 

Download the Closing the GAP QI workbook (an interactive PDF) and use it for self-guided quality improvement. Your NWMPHN program officer can support you to get the most out of the process, helping you to: 

• use PenCAT4 to extract practice data 
• understand and interpret your data 
• determine a goal for your project 
• plan and undertake QI activities 
• review the success of your QI activities. 
  GPs can be eligible for 40 RACGP Accredited Activity CPD points (formerly Cat 1 points) by undertaking activities in this booklet. Phone (03) 9347 1188 or email primarycare@nwmphn.org.au for information and support. 

This free resource will help you undertake structured quality improvement for cancer screening in your practice.

• Download the Cancer Screening QI Toolkit

This toolkit can be used to help you meet the requirements for the Practice Incentives Program Quality Improvement Incentive.

Research shows that strong primary health care involvement is associated with greater cancer screening participation rates. In particular, the following primary health care activities have led to higher participation rates:

• having a GP endorse an invitation to take a screening test
• use of recall and reminder systems
• participation in quality improvement programs, incorporating audit and feedback on screening.

The workbook can be used by practices and individual professionals as evidence for:

• Practice Incentives Program Quality Improvement Incentive
• RACGP accreditation standards
• CPD points.

GPs can be eligible for 40 RACGP Accredited Activity CPD points (formerly Cat 1 points) by undertaking activities in this booklet.

Speak to your relationship manager or contact our Workforce, Education and Training team for assistance, and for information on CPD requirements and process. Email education@nwmphn.org.au or call (03) 9347 1188. 

This resource has been developed as part of the community-led cancer screening program, which aims to increase early detection of bowel, cervical and breast cancer by strengthening workforce capacity within primary care settings and targeted community-led interventions.

Innovation in Cancer Screening workshop (video recordings)

We recently worked with eight practices from the Brimbank and Wyndham regions on an intensive quality improvement project to improve their approach to cancer screening.

This included supporting them to plan and undertake activities to improve recall and reminder processes and increase promotion of national bowel, cervical and breast screening programs.

Video recordings cover:

1. Community-led cancer screening: A quality improvement perspective (21 min)
2. Cervical cancer screening (25 min)
3. Improving colorectal cancer screening (25 min)
4. Screening for breast cancer (35 min)
5. Quality improvement and cancer screening – summary (7 min)

Also see the full transcript of the videos.

It is estimated that one in eight patients in any general practice is a carer.  Carers provide a vital role in our society, and enable patients to maintain their independence, wellness and quality of life. The care that they provide may range from emotional and practical support for a few hours a day or around the clock.

The new Caring for Carers in General Practice workbook is a simple to use, self-guided tool for practices to track their progress and help provide best care. This workbook is part of the Carer Awareness Project, which aims to improve recognition of the carer role and provide guidance for GPs to identify and support patients who are carers. The content was developed with input from GPs, carers, and Carers Victoria.

This workbook is a valuable tool to help practices to track their progress and provide better care. It is perfect if you are new to quality improvement (QI) as it provides easy to follow steps to take you through Plan Do Study Act (PDSA) cycles and QI activities. It can also be used alongside the QI reports that we provide quarterly to each practice.

The workbooks have been created by general practice, for general practice, with input from NWMPHN teams and subject matter experts, and through consultation with the community and the broader primary care sector.

This workbook can be used by practices and individual professionals as evidence for:

• the Practice Incentives Program Quality Improvement (PIP QI) Incentive
• RACGP accreditation standards
• continuing professional development points.

Getting started

Download the Caring for Carers workbook (an interactive PDF) and use it for self-guided quality improvement. Your NWMPHN relationship manager can support you to get the most out of the process, helping you to:

• use PenCAT4 to extract practice data
• understand and interpret your data
• determine a goal for your project
• plan and undertake QI activities
• review the success of your QI activities.

Phone (03) 9347 1188 or email primarycare@nwmphn.org.au for information and support.

GPs can be eligible for 40 RACGP Accredited Activity CPD points (formerly Cat 1 points) by undertaking activities in this booklet. Speak to your relationship manager or contact our Workforce, Education and Training team for assistance, and for information on CPD requirements and process. Email education@nwmphn.org.au or call (03) 9347 1188. 

General practices play a pivotal role to diagnose, treat and educate people with diabetes to manage their conditions and avoid complications. General practices can also help people prevent developing type 2 diabetes with the right advice, care and targeted health promotion.

New 2021 figures show that many local government areas in our region have higher rates of diabetes than the Victorian and Australian averages with rates of prevalence ranging from 4.1 to 8.2 per cent (source: PHIDU 2021) 

This Diabetes – Types 1 and 2 QI workbook aims to provide guidance for GPs and their practice teams to identify and manage patients who have or are at risk of diabetes, and ways to support prevention. It is also a valuable tool to help practices to track their progress and provide better care.

Whether you are new to quality improvement or an expert, this workbook provides easy to follow steps to take you through QI activities.  It can be used alongside the quarterly data reports that NWMPHN provide to practices.

The workbooks have been created by general practice, for general practice, with input from NWMPHN teams and subject matter experts, and through consultation with the community and the broader primary care sector.

This workbook can be used by practices and individual professionals as part of:

• the Practice Incentives Program Quality Improvement (PIP QI) Incentive
• RACGP accreditation standards
• continuing professional development.

Getting started

Download the Diabetes – Types 1 and 2 workbook (an interactive PDF) and use it for self-guided quality improvement. Your NWMPHN quality improvement program officer can support you to get the most out of the process, helping you to:

• use Pen CAT4 to extract practice data
• understand and interpret your data
• determine a goal for your project
• plan and undertake QI activities
• review the success of your QI activities.

GPs can be eligible for 40 RACGP Accredited Activity CPD points (formerly Cat 1 points) by undertaking activities in this booklet. Phone (03)  9347 1188 or email primarycare@nwmphn.org.au for information and support.

The need for end-of-life care, or palliative care, is increasing in Australia. Can your practice improve its care of patients reaching the end of their lives?

This workbook has easy-to-follow steps that take you through ‘Plan, Do, Study, Act’ (PDSA) cycles to analyse your performance and make measurable improvements. It covers advance care planning, palliative care and voluntary assisted dying. It can also be used alongside the new General Practice Reports that we provide quarterly to each practice.

Included in the workbook are:

• PDSA templates and examples
• useful PEN CAT recipes
• data collection ideas
• advice on tracking changes in your data
• helpful resources
• education and further training ideas
• links to HealthPathways.

The workbook can be used by practices and individual professionals as evidence for:

• Practice Incentives Program Quality Improvement Incentive
• RACGP accreditation standards
• CPD points.

Getting started

Download the End-of-Life Care workbook (an interactive PDF) and use it for self-guided quality improvement. Your NWMPHN relationship manager can support you to get the most out of the process, helping you to:

• use PenCAT4 to extract practice data
• understand and interpret your data
• determine a goal for your project
• plan and undertake QI activities
• review the success of your QI activities.

Phone (03) 9347 1188 or email primarycare@nwmphn.org.au for information and support.

GPs can be eligible for 40 RACGP Accredited Activity CPD points (formerly Cat 1 points) by undertaking activities in this booklet. Speak to your relationship manager or contact our Workforce, Education and Training team for assistance, and for information on CPD requirements and process. Email education@nwmphn.org.au or call (03) 9347 1188. 

This workbook has been developed through the Australian Government’s Greater Choices for At Home Palliative Care measure.

My Health Record is a secure online summary of patient health information – an important tool used by general practices across Australia since 2012.

A person’s My Health Record may contain a range of documents uploaded by primary health care providers and other health care providers.

Practices will have a different level of experience with My Health Record, but the main goal of this quality improvement workbook is to ensure consistent use and contribution to My Health Record for all patients who have one, including uploading Shared Health Summaries.

This workbook has easy-to-follow steps that take you through ‘Plan, Do, Study, Act’ (PDSA) cycles to analyse your performance and make measurable improvements. It can also be used alongside the new General Practice Reports that we provide quarterly to each practice.

Included in the workbook are:

• PDSA templates and examples
• useful PEN CAT recipes
• data collection ideas
• advice on tracking changes in your data
• helpful resources
• education and further training ideas
• links to HealthPathways.

The workbook can be used by practices and individual professionals as evidence for:

• Practice Incentives Program Quality Improvement Incentive
• RACGP accreditation standards
• CPD points.

Getting started

Download the My Health Record workbook (an interactive PDF) and use it for self-guided quality improvement. Your NWMPHN relationship manager can support you to get the most out of the process, helping you to:

• use PenCAT4 to extract practice data
• understand and interpret your data
• determine a goal for your project
• plan and undertake QI activities
• review the success of your QI activities.

Phone (03) 9347 1188 or email primarycare@nwmphn.org.au for information and support.

GPs can be eligible for 40 RACGP Accredited Activity CPD points (formerly Cat 1 points) by undertaking activities in this booklet. Speak to your relationship manager or contact our Workforce, Education and Training team for assistance, and for information on CPD requirements and process. Email education@nwmphn.org.au or call (03) 9347 1188. 

The Practice Incentives Program Quality Improvement (PIP QI) Incentive is designed to encourage practices to improve patient outcomes and care through quality improvement processes.

In partnership with their Primary Health Network, practices may choose any area of improvement informed by their clinical information system. By submitting the PIP Eligible Data Set to their PHN, eligible practices can receive a maximum payment of $12,500 per quarter, based on $5.00 per Standardised Whole Patient Equivalent, per year.

This workbook helps practices undertake quality improvement activities that address any of the PIP QI 10 measures. It has easy-to-follow steps that take you through ‘Plan, Do, Study, Act’ (PDSA) cycles to analyse your performance and make measurable improvements. It can also be used alongside the new General Practice Reports that we provide quarterly to each practice.

Included in the workbook are:

• PDSA templates and examples
• useful PEN CAT recipes
• data collection ideas
• advice on tracking changes in your data
• helpful resources
• education and further training ideas
• links to HealthPathways.

The workbook can be used by practices and individual professionals as evidence for:

• Practice Incentives Program Quality Improvement Incentive
• RACGP accreditation standards
• CPD points.

Getting started

Download the PIP QI Ten Measures workbook (an interactive PDF) and use it for self-guided quality improvement. Your NWMPHN relationship manager can support you to get the most out of the process, helping you to:

• use PenCAT4 to extract practice data
• understand and interpret your data
• determine a goal for your project
• plan and undertake QI activities
• review the success of your QI activities.

Phone (03) 9347 1188 or email primarycare@nwmphn.org.au for information and support.

GPs can be eligible for 40 RACGP Accredited Activity CPD points (formerly Cat 1 points) by undertaking activities in this booklet. Speak to your relationship manager or contact our Workforce, Education and Training team for assistance, and for information on CPD requirements and process. Email education@nwmphn.org.au or call (03) 9347 1188.