Welcome to our Winter Newsletter. The mornings are certainly getting crisper, and we know what comes with the cooler weather – winter viruses and coughs and cold’s! There are many ways to prevent you and your families risk of acute respiratory infections such as regular hand washing and good hygiene, social distancing, and being up to date with your influenza and covid vaccination. Our blog article on ‘Coughs and Colds and Sneeze and Wheeze in Children’ has some great tips on managing acute respiratory infections and when you should seek medical attention. Our winter edition of our newsletter also includes includes information regarding Influenza and Covid vaccines, our private nurse clinics, and a thank you to our staff – celebrating International Nurses day and World Family Doctor day We also recently held our annual Australia’s biggest morning tea to raise money for the Cancer Council and to support Dr Georgia’s Dance for Cancer fundraiser event ‘Stars of the Central Coast’ at the Laycock theatre on Friday 26th May.
COUGH’S AND COLDS AND SNEEZE AND WHEEZE IN CHILDREN
Acute Respiratory infections (ARI’s) is the term given to infections of the upper and lower respiratory tract such as throat, sinuses, middle ear, airways and lungs. They are the most common cause of illness in children under 5, who average three to six episodes of ARI’s every year. Some unlucky children in their first year of day care can get up to 10 ARI’s. The majority come from a viral cause such as rhinovirus , respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), parainfluenza and influenza virus, adenovirus, and coronavirus infections. Symptoms can include cough, sneezing, blocked or runny nose, sore throat, and fever. Other symptoms included fatigue, muscles aches and pains, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and difficulty breathing, tight chest or wheezing.
Most cases of ARI’s get better within 1 – 2 weeks by treating your child’s symptoms at home. But how do you know when to seek medical advice, speak with or see your GP or attend the emergency department?
Read more in our blog article …. https://yourfamilydoctors.com.au/coughs-and-colds-sneeze-and-wheeze-in-children/
HAVE YOU HAD YOUR FLU SHOT YET?
It’s not too late to get your flu vaccination and with numbers on the rise we strongly recommend you do! Annual influenza vaccination is recommended for those at risk of severe illness from the flu. Those eligible for government funded influenza vaccines under the National Immunisation program includes:
- Children from 6 months to under 5 years
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from 6 months
- Pregnant women
- People aged 65 years and over
- People with serious health conditions (including severe asthma, diabetes, cancer, immune disorders, obesity, kidney, heart, lung or liver disease)
Those not eligible for a government flu vaccine can receive a private flu vaccine at Your Family Doctors for $20.
This year, to enable our doctors to be more available to our patients we will be conducting nurse run clinics. These clinics will have an $15 administration fee, even if you are eligible for a government funded vaccine. Unlike the covid vaccination clinics, there is no medicare rebate for nurse run flu clinics.
Flu vaccine appointments will be available for patients of our practice online via HotDoc under ‘Flu clinic’ when they arrive in stock or via this link https://www.hotdoc.com.au/medical-centres/erina-NSW-2250/your-family-doctors-at-erina/doctors
More info about the flu vaccine go to https://yourfamilydoctors.com.au/influenza-vaccinations-2023/
Seasonal influenza vaccination – Frequently asked questions – Immunisation programs (nsw.gov.au)
ARE YOU DUE FOR A COVID BOOSTER?
All adults are eligible for a 2023 COVID-19 booster dose if have not had a COVID-19 booster or a confirmed case in the past six months.
The ATAGI experts have particularly recommended that everyone at risk of severe illness – that is, everyone aged 65 years and over as well as younger adults who have medical comorbidities, disability or complex health needs – have a 2023 booster dose.
Patients of the practice can book an appointment for our Pfizer Bivalent Omicron specific Booster online via hotdocs ……https://www.hotdoc.com.au/…/pfizer-vaccine-practitioner-7
For more information …
https://thephn.com.au/…/new-2023-covid-19-booster-jab…
https://www.health.gov.au/news/atagi-2023-booster-advice
PRIVATE NURSING FEES
The cost of running a private practice continues to rise and the Medicare rebate doesn’t cover the cost of nursing care provided in General Practice. This includes dressings, equipment, wages and consumables used. To be able to continue the excellent nursing care given to our patients at YFD, we will be implementing a private nursing fee for various services commencing June 1st. This out-of-pocket fee will vary depending on the service provided and costs involved.
Examples include;
- Prolia, B12 injections, flu vaccines – $15
- Childhood immunisations $35
- Wound care $35 (plus the cost of dressings packs)
As nurse led services are not covered by Medicare there will be no medicare rebate.
If the doctor is also required to be involved in the consultation a private fee will apply with a medicare rebate.
We would love our practice nurses to be more supported by the government and for patients to receive a medicare rebate for their nursing care and encourage our patients to discuss any concerns about the medicare rebate and increased costs of medical care with your Federal Member of Parliament.
HOT DOC ONLINE PAYMENTS
HotDoc online payments are now available . This is a convenient online payment option that can be used to pay for services such as telehealth appointments, online booked appointments and private flu vaccines. Hot doc will provide step by step instructions how to use this function when you make an appointment and includes options such as saving your credit card details so you don’t need to re-enter details again for each appointment.
INTERNATIONAL NURSES DAY
On 12th May it was International Nurses day so we would like to say a big thank you to all the amazing nurses out there especially our fabulous practice nurses – Jodie, Lynne, Steph and Cassy. At YFD we certainly keep our nurses busy caring for our patients and vaccinating our community. Thank you for all you do!
WORLD FAMILY DOCTOR DAY
May 19th was World Family Doctor Day. This year’s them is ‘Family Doctors: The Heart of Healthcare’
The day celebrates the contribution GPs, family doctors and primary care teams make to healthcare system across the globe. They truly are the heart of health care, ensuring continuity of care by being available throughout their patients’ lives. They help keep their patients healthy and out of hospital through managing acute and chronic conditions and providing ongoing preventive care.
At YFD we are very fortunate to have such a wonderful caring bunch of GP’s all under the one roof! Thank you for all your hard work and for being the heart of healthcare.
STAFF NEWS
CANCER COUNCIL AUSTRALIAS BIGGEST MORNING TEA
The sun came out for our annual Cancer Council Australia’s biggest morning tea. The YFD team did their annual bake off and they did not disappoint! Thank you to our patients and staff that popped by to say hello.
This year we were supporting Dr Georgia’s ‘Stars of the Central Coast’ fundraising campaign for the Cancer Council, which will go towards research and cancer services here on the Central Coast. Dr Georgia performed her dance for cancer on Friday 26th May at the Laycock theatre (for event highlights please read the next section of our newsletter)
To read more about Dr Georgia’s fundraiser or if you would like to donate go to.
https://stars.cancercouncil.com.au/fundraisers/georgiapage
DR GEORGIA’S DANCE FOR CANCER
Congratulations to our very own Dr Dance who bought the house down at the Laycock theatre for the Cancer Council NSW – STARS of the Central Coast 2023! Dr Georgia ‘eased on down the road’ dressed as Dorothy with her dance partner Lara (scarecrow) in an energetic and joyous musical theatre dance routine. The audience couldn’t keep the smiles off their faces and they won the People’s Choice Award
Thanks to the generosity of the Central Coast community, Dr Georgia managed to raise over $20,000 for the Cancer Council NSW – Central Coast! The whole event raised over $220,000 – all of which will stay on the Central coast to support our community. Well done to all the stars, dancers and volunteers for creating such a fabulous night and more importantly for raising funds for such an important cause close to our hearts
DR ELLY’S NEW ROLE
This year Dr Elly Warren is working at Your Family Doctors on Fridays only. She has taken on a new role at Gosford and Wyong Hospitals. Elly is sharing the role of Medical Director of Central Coast Health @ Home, working hard to create a new service that is able to manage people requiring hospital-level care at home. The Health @ Home team visit people in their own homes or aged care facilities daily to give IV antibiotics, IV fluids and other medical treatments that would otherwise require a hospital ward bed. Patients love the new service, preferring to sleep in their own beds, eat their own food and share their recovery with family and pets.
Dr Elly misses seeing many of her patients given her limited hours with us but she is grateful of the amazing team of GP’s at YFD to help care for her patients when she is less available.
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Thanks for reading our Winter Newsletter – keep healthy, be winter ready and we will be back in a few months with more news. In the meantime, like us on facebook or instagram to keep up to date with the important health information and to see what the YFD team has been up to. Our website is also a great source of information, so please check out our blog for health information written by our team. Stay well.
Love Team YFD xx