This year we’ve faced another year of significant challenges across the sector. Implementing significant changes to clinical and business practices while facing a pandemic and all manner of related challenges with great positive impact, has served to highlight the deep capacity and immense capability of primary care.

I would like to acknowledge our general practices who have been at the forefront of adapting to change and having to transform the way they deliver primary health care. To support the increased need, SEMPHN invested an additional $1.7M to help 11 clinics provide patient care in the after hours.  While the needs of COVID placed greater emphasis on general practices, it was important that patients with one or more chronic conditions continued to maintain their regular appointments and have access to appropriate care. In 2020, SEMPHN invested up to $250,000 per practice over 24 months to enable them to support their most vulnerable patients.

The Federal Government’s decision to extend the MBS items for telehealth earlier in the year has been pivotal in continuing remote consultations within general practice. HealthDirect’s VideoCall had a significant uptake in the past 12 months. General practices and allied health professionals in the SEMPHN catchment accessed this service more than any other Primary Health Network nationally. POLAR (Population Level Analysis & Reporting) has also seen further growth, with 360 general practices now using the SEMPHN-funded software for insight and planning across clinical, business, quality improvement and accreditation, compared to 316 the previous year.

To meet the increased needs of our stakeholders, we established a COVID-19 Special Projects team which has been instrumental in establishing the GP-Led Respiratory Clinics and leading the vaccine roll out across general practice and Residential Aged Care Facilities. The Special Projects team and our Provider Support team have been incredible in their ability to support our general practices, providing guidance and advice, distributing PPE and offering digital solutions to ensure patients continued to access care safely.

Our Strategic Relations team has been remarkable in keeping our stakeholders in the loop as new information and government advice was delivered – almost on a daily basis. Our dedicated COVID-19 webpages, weekly COVID-19 newsletters and social media posts were well received and often shared amongst our stakeholders and their communities.

The pandemic has taken a toll on many of us and has seen a significant increase in demand for mental health services across the state.

Over the last 12 months we had the opportunity to launch two valuable programs – The Way Back Support Service and THRIVE as part of the Place-Based Suicide Prevention Trials. These programs have been critical in supporting those impacted by suicide in our community. In addition, we partnered with LivingWorks and the Black Dog Institute to provide suicide first aid training – a valuable skill that can make a difference to saving someone’s life.

On a final note, this will be my final annual report following my resignation as SEMPHN CEO. I’m extremely proud to have seen significant changes and improvements to the way health care is delivered in our catchment over the past 6 years.

The workload for the teams at SEMPHN has been enormous and invisible to many: I would like to acknowledge their unfailing commitment to primary care and the residents of south eastern Melbourne over the past twelve months. Thank you to everyone at SEMPHN  for the tremendous work, going above and beyond to support each other and our stakeholders during this time and I wish everyone the best for the future.

Dr Elizabeth Deveny
Chief Executive Officer