Please make sure patients are aware of when your practice will be on break.
Advertise your closure period and after-hours arrangements in your waiting room, on your voicemail and hold messages, and your website. Also confirm that your online booking system reflects your closure period.
You could also consider adding the details to social media and email signatures, updating both your Google listing (see instructions here), and National Health Services directory listing.
Ensuring care is available during your break period
Ensure your patients are aware of care options during your closure period:
- Triple-0 emergency services and hospital emergency departments operate across the holiday period.
- Urgent Care Clinics and the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department are also working.
- Family violence support services are also available. See this webpage for details.
Advise pathology and radiology providers of emergency contacts for urgent results over your closure period.
Consider reviewing your patients at high risk of hospitalisation before you close to ensure they have required prescriptions, after-hours contact information and any action plans they may need to keep them well. These could include information on heat illness prevention, asthma action plans, and a COVID-19 treatment plan.
Aged care
If you are delivering services to aged care homes:
- ensure they are notified of contact details and after-hours arrangements
- remind each provider to run a General Practice in Aged Care Incentive forecast to ensure visit requirements are met for the quarter, which ends on December 31.
Minimise disruption to services
- Review your practice’s emergency response and business continuity plans, and update processes for your closure period.
- Ensure staff contact details are up to date.
- Minimise the number of vaccines stored over your practice closure period, and plan how you will manage the cold chain in case of a power outage.
Practice Incentive Programs
- Quality improvement: If your practice submits PIP QI data via the online portal using a JSON file, please ensure you do so prior to 15 January 2025 to avoid a disruption to your payments.
- Workforce incentive: Remember to submit your quarterly confirmation statement by 30 January 2025.
NWMPHN close-down
North Western Melbourne Primary Health Network (NWMPHN) will close at 5pm, Tuesday, 24 December 2024 and reopen at 9am, Thursday, 2 January 2025.
Some of our programs and services will operate at reduced capacity during this period. Please read this important information for primary care providers.
Enjoy your break!
2024 has been a long and challenging year. However you plan to spend your precious days off, all of us here at NWMPHN wish you the best, and we look forward to working with you again in the new year.
