My Health My Voice November 2023
Issue 38 | May 2023
That was the year that was: NWMPHN releases 2023 Annual Report
“The coming years bring with them a curious mix of optimism, and hope,” writes CEO Christopher Carter, introducing North Western Melbourne Primary Health Network’s (NWMPHN’s) Annual Report for 2023.
The report, published this week, provides a brief overview of our activities across a very busy year.
Among the achievements for the financial year:
- 1600 community participants engaged in our Health Needs Assessment 2022–25
- 43,606 CAREinMIND™ counselling sessions were delivered
- 6000 counselling sessions were delivered to more than 1000 aged care home residents
- 30,000+ patients with urgent conditions were seen in 8 priority primary care centres
- 88 local services were listed on our new Dementia Directory
- 83 residential aged care homes took part in our physical activity program
- 32,200 at-risk patients received a vaccination or GP consult through our winter planning grant scheme.
And that’s just a sample!
This year NWMPHN decided not to produce a printed annual report. Instead, we teamed up with Melbourne web designers Plural to produce a purely online publication, containing videos and animations as well as text.
View the NWMPHN Annual Report 2022–23 at annualreport2023.nwmphn.org.au
Community update
Have you registered for MyMedicare yet?
If you have a Medicare or Department of Veterans’ Affairs Veteran card, you can now register for MyMedicare.
Registering with MyMedicare is optional but will help you receive better care from your general practice. By registering, you are letting your your general practice know (your local doctor/nurse) that you see them as your regular care team. By doing this, you can get access to longer telephone appointments with any GP at your registered practice and they will receive funding from the Australian Government to deliver the care you need.
The registration process may be different depending on your personal situation and the type of practice you attend. Please visit the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care website to get started.
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COVID era clinics close, replaced by priority and virtual medical centres
The last remaining general practice respiratory clinics in Melbourne’s west and north are now closed. This means you will no longer be able to use them to get treatment for COVID-19, flu or other respiratory (lung) conditions.
This move from the Victorian Government comes because other new medical services – Priority Primary Care Centres (PPCCs) and the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department (VVED)– now offer almost the same treatments, and much more.
In Melbourne’s north and west there are 7 PPCCs, located in Moonee Ponds, Maribyrnong, Sunshine, Werribee, Sunbury, Craigieburn and Epping.
If your condition is serious, but not life-threatening, you can visit a PPCC instead of waiting in an emergency department. To find out what conditions can be treated at a PPCC, click here.
The VVED – which will connect you to an emergency doctor or nurse through your smart device or computer – is at vved.org.au
Other options include NURSE-ON-CALL, available 24 hours a day and reached on 1300 60 60 24.
And, of course, for limb or life-threatening matters call Ambulance Victoria on 000.
New report outlines the health and care needs of Melbournians in the West Metro region
This report provides an overview of the health and care needs of Victorians in the West Metro region.
It was developed by NWMPHN, Western Public Health Unit, and the West Metro Health Service Partnership (WM HSP). WM HSP health services are the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, the Royal Women’s Hospital, Western Health, Mercy Health Werribee, and the Royal Children’s Hospital.
The report will now be used by these organisations to help them decide what projects to prioritise and work together on to improve the care they provide to the community.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to the report by sharing their experiences of health care with us.
Find out more here.
Recipe
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup butter
- 3/4 cup maple syrup
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups whole white wheat flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 cup coconut
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup chopped nuts, raisins, or chocolate chips
Method:
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
- In a mixer, whisk butter and maple syrup. Add eggs and vanilla, and whisk until combined.
- In a second bowl, combine wheat flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Slowly pour into the butter mixture, mixing on low until combined.
- Using a spatula, add oats and additional add-ins (if using); fold into the dough until combined.
- Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes or until light golden brown.
- Cool for a minute on cookie sheets so they don’t fall apart when you move them. Then move to wire rack to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container. Enjoy!
Want to get more involved?
Our People Bank is a register of people who would like to help us to improve the health of people in north western Melbourne.
