Vision-impaired kids at risk
A Perth paediatrician wants to make other health professionals aware of the impact of vision impairment on a child’s development.
Dr Alison Salt, an international expert in childhood vision, says recognising the health and developmental issues that can occur with childhood vision impairment is crucial.
The consultant paediatrician in Kids Rehab WA at Perth Children’s Hospital and Clinical Associate Professor at UWA has co-authored a book based on her experience with the Developmental Vision Service at the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in the UK.
Children with Vision Impairment incorporates more than four decades of experience from clinician researchers at the UK service in collaboration with leading experts around the world. It aims to support health professionals working with visually impaired children and parents, some of whom contributed to the book.
Dr Salt said one of the key messages was the importance of supporting parents as early as possible to help their babies who have a visual impairment reach their full potential.
“Every aspect of a child’s development including their movement, sound location, language and social development is driven by vision,” she said.
“It’s therefore important to view vision impairment in a broad developmental context and consider how to address potential vulnerabilities.
“Despite the challenges these children face, they can develop alongside their peers and achieve remarkable things.”
Women GPs grow
Women are expected to make up a significantly larger proportion of Australia’s GP workforce in the future, with the number of female GPs continuing to grow more quickly.
The number of women GPs in training has surpassed men, at 58% women compared to 39% men, according to the latest RACGP Health of the Nation report.
There were 18,472 women GPs in the workforce in 2020-21, compared to 19,916 men.
RACGP President Dr Nicole Higgins said Australia’s women GPs need to be celebrated and supported.
“More women are becoming GPs than ever, and we should celebrate this as it highlights where progress has been made towards gender equality,” she said. “The days when being a doctor was solely a profession for men are far behind us. However, we still have a way to go to achieve equality.
“One of the key issues is that women GPs tend to spend longer with their patients because they see more people with complex needs. Female GPs spend 19 minutes on average with patients compared to 16 minutes for male GPs.
“But Medicare pays less per minute for longer consultations, meaning women GPs and their patients are being unfairly penalised.”
Dr Higgins said more funding for longer consultations would make a real difference for people with complex needs across Australia.
This included women with sensitive issues, including sexual health and reproductive concerns, mental health issues and those experiencing abuse and violence.
Albany expansion
WA’s Great Southern region will soon have access to radiation oncology services close to home, through the State Government-funded $13.1 million GenesisCare Albany radiation oncology facility.
Patient care will be managed by a multidisciplinary team of specialised cancer experts, and patients will have rapid access to personalised care for specialist consultation and treatment across many tumour types.
The fit-for-purpose centre allows integration with the Albany Health Campus and Albany public and private hospitals, ensuring patients are supported at all stages of their journey.
Accommodation and transport packages will be offered, as well as bulk billing for Medicare-eligible patients.
Help for those in health
Black Dog Institute has launched a new health professional resource and education hub to provide easy access to online programs, resources and primary care information on mental health.
The custom-built platform will provide health professionals with access to evidence-based online resources, including accredited training modules, webinars, podcasts and other e-Mental Health in Practice content.
These are designed to introduce health professionals to online programs and tools, and to demonstrate how e-mental health technologies can be integrated into primary care.
Jan Orman, Black Dog’s GP Services Consultant, said Australia used a stepped care model of mental health care where the treatment a patient received was matched to the severity of their symptoms.
She said e-mental health treatments were good options for many people with mild to moderate conditions and, in some cases, might be the only treatment needed at that time.
Users will also be able to connect with other health professionals through the Mental Health Community of Practice, where they can exchange ideas, thoughts and experiences with peers via forums moderated by Black Dog Institute’s team of experts.
Mental care unit opens
Bethesda Health Care’s new mental health service and hospital in Cockburn is now accepting referrals.
Bethesda Clinic, which opened in March, is the first private mental health service south of the river, built at a cost of more than $60 million. It aims to offer care closer to home and meet the demand for mental health care in Perth’s southern suburbs as well as the southern regions of WA.
The 75-bed facility provides adult inpatient services and outpatient day programs through the Wellness and Recovery Centre.
The clinic has a dedicated military, veteran and first responder trauma ward, and in a State-first – a women’s-only ward offering patients treatment in a gender-safe environment.
Bethesda CEO Dr Neale Fong said that in a move away from traditional private hospital mental health care, a national-first partnership with Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare would support patients post-discharge to remain mentally well in their home and community.
“The digital element of the clinic is what we are really excited about, and our model of care works towards minimising repeat admissions,” he said. “We want to see people supported and well outside of a hospital environment.”
Bethesda Clinic is accepting referrals for general psychiatry, alcohol and other drug addiction, mood and anxiety and trauma.
Stage two will open in the middle of the year, rounding out the 75 beds, and will include a neurostimulation suite with electroconvulsive therapy and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation.