News & Announcements

Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a rare but serious infection spread by mosquito bites. Cases of JE have been confirmed in parts of regional NSW following recent heavy rains.

The Australian Government has accepted the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation’s (ATAGI) recommendation that an additional booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine be provided to vulnerable population groups to increase their protection levels before winter.

General practices are being asked to undertake a significant number of pandemic-specific activities in addition to their usual general practice work. In recognition of the additional effort by practices, Practice Support Grants of $4,000 (ex GST) are available to all General Practice sites in the Hunter New England Central Coast Primary Health Network Region to support ongoing COVID care and vaccinations.

Following the success of last year’s inaugural Primary Care Quality and Innovation Awards, we are excited to announce that the Awards are returning on Friday the 24th of June, 2022.

Following a successful trial in 2021, phase 2 of the Text to Detect – National Heart Health Check Recall program has recently been launched.

The Hunter New England and Central Coast Primary Health Network (PHN) is one of six PHNs to lead a Commonwealth funded initiative to build capacity in primary care providers to recognise, respond, refer and record patients who are experiencing domestic family violence.

The Commonwealth Government recently announced it will make temporary changes to Telehealth to give GPs and specialists additional flexibility to support their patients safely, including the continued supply of PPE and online support.

The federal government has committed funding to support permanent telehealth services that successfully transformed healthcare delivery during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The RACGP is urging GPs to be on the look out for signs of abuse among patients as domestic violence escalates during the pandemic.

On the eve of World AIDS Day on 1st December, the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO) has just launched the ‘Us Mob and HIV’ website.