Welcoming Dr Ciara Peddell to PartridgeGP – appointments available today!

PartridgeGP is proud to welcome Dr Ciara Peddell to our team!

Dr Ciara Peddell completed her medical training at the University of Tasmania in 2014. Since then she has worked in hospitals and GP practices in Townsville and Brisbane. She completed the Diploma of Child Health in 2017 through the University of Sydney and received her RACGP fellowship in 2019. Dr Ciara is looking forward to moving to Adelaide in January to start her work at Partridge GP.  

Dr Ciara’s special interests include paediatrics (kids health), preventative health and she is trained in the insertion and removal of the implanon contraceptive device.

Dr Ciara is here to help you at PartridgeGP as Your GP! She is available to help you with all of your General Practice needs from the end of January 2021 and you can make your appointment with her conveniently online right here – or call our friendly reception team on 0882953200.

All of our doctors here at PartridgeGP are fully qualified ‘Fellows’ (or are studying towards this ‘Registrars’) holding a specialist qualification with either the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (FRACGP) or the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (FACRRM) or both (3-4 years of full time study and 3 exams on top of an undergraduate university medical degree and supervised trainee ‘intern’ year in a hospital). This is our minimum specialist standard and you can see more about what this involves here. Our Fellows provide supervision and advice to our Registrars.

We also supervise and teach Medical Students from Flinders University. They are still studying to become doctors. All of us – Fellows, Registrars, and Medical Students – make up the Clinical Team here at PartridgeGP with our excellent Practice Nurses. We all uphold the highest standards of privacy, confidentiality, professionalism, and clinical practice.

So where to in 2021?

Firstly, for everyone, we believe that having a usual GP or General Practice is central to each person’s care and recommend that people with any health issues that come to the attention of other health professionals should be advised to attend their usual GP or General Practice rather than a specialised service (ie a place not providing the holistic care a specialist GP would).   If  they say that they don’t have a usual GP or general practice, they should be helped to find one and to actually attend it.

(Hat tip: Dr Oliver Frank)

(TL;DR – Get a regular GP or General Practice and use them!)

Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com

Secondly, if you’re employed, get a side hustle and get into business. If you’ve already got a business, get a network. Want to get started? Find your tribe here!

Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com

Thirdly, if you are a great GP or a great Allied Health Professional, and you want to serve your clients or patients to the best of your ability, without worrying about all the non clinical things that get in your way, lets talk. Call Mrs Hayley Roberts on 8295 3200 and have a coffee and chat as to how PartridgeGP can help you to help others.

Welcoming Dr Katherine Astill back to PartridgeGP…today!

Happy Monday – PartridgeGP is proud to welcome Dr Katherine Astill back to our team!

Dr Katherine Astill commenced her specialist General Practice training with PartridgeGP in August 2017, returned in August 2019, and is back again from February 2021! She graduated with a Bachelor of Physiotherapy from the University of South Australia in 2009 and furthered her education with a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from Deakin University in 2013. After holding positions with the Muscular Dystrophy Association and the Women’s and Children’s Hospital, she decided to specialise in General Practice, with a special interest in Women’s and Children’s Health completing her Diploma of Child Health in 2016.

Dr Katherine has a passion for holistic care and preventative health. She is also a strong advocate for a plant based diet and healthy lifestyle and looks forward to helping people with both of these.

She loves the local Glenelg area and is keen to hit the ground running with the rest of our Great Team here at PartridgeGP!

Dr Katherine is here to help you at PartridgeGP as Your GP! She is available to help you with all of your General Practice needs from the start of February 2021 and you can make your appointment with her conveniently online right here – or call our friendly reception team on 0882953200.

All of our doctors here at PartridgeGP are fully qualified ‘Fellows’ (or are studying towards this ‘Registrars’) holding a specialist qualification with either the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (FRACGP) or the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (FACRRM) or both (3-4 years of full time study and 3 exams on top of an undergraduate university medical degree and supervised trainee ‘intern’ year in a hospital). This is our minimum specialist standard and you can see more about what this involves here. Our Fellows provide supervision and advice to our Registrars.

We also supervise and teach Medical Students from Flinders University. They are still studying to become doctors. All of us – Fellows, Registrars, and Medical Students – make up the Clinical Team here at PartridgeGP with our excellent Practice Nurses. We all uphold the highest standards of privacy, confidentiality, professionalism, and clinical practice.

Where to from here?

Firstly, for everyone, we believe that having a usual GP or General Practice is central to each person’s care and recommend that people with any health issues that come to the attention of other health professionals should be advised to attend their usual GP or General Practice rather than a specialised service (ie a place not providing the holistic care a specialist GP would).   If  they say that they don’t have a usual GP or general practice, they should be helped to find one and to actually attend it.

(Hat tip: Dr Oliver Frank)

(TL;DR – Get a regular GP or General Practice and use them!)

Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com

Secondly, if you’re employed, get a side hustle and get into business. If you’ve already got a business, get a network. Want to get started? Find your tribe here!

Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com

Thirdly, if you are a great GP or a great Allied Health Professional, and you want to serve your clients or patients to the best of your ability, without worrying about all the non clinical things that get in your way, lets talk. Call Mrs Hayley Roberts on 8295 3200 and have a coffee and chat as to how PartridgeGP can help you to help others.

rest

It’s Sunday, chill out. Get with the 5G (no, not the phones that people get so stressed about):

Good friends
Get some exercise
Great food
Get out in the sun
Gratitude

One day of rest won’t lead to this!

PartridgeGP works with you to help you make your best health decisions, and we won’t back away from being your companion, guide, advisor, and sounding board through your health journey. We pride ourselves on great communication and we’re ready to share our professional skills and knowledge with you. This is only MORE important now, in the time of a global pandemic with a new vaccine on the horizon. The way forward is clear: make your appointment with us conveniently online right here – or call our friendly reception team on 82953200.

Better, for you.

Want more?

Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com

For everyone, we believe that having a usual GP or General Practice is central to each person’s care and recommend that people with any health issues that come to the attention of other health professionals should be advised to attend their usual GP or General Practice rather than a specialised service (ie a place not providing the holistic care a specialist GP would).   If  they say that they don’t have a usual GP or general practice, they should be helped to find one and to actually attend it. Call PartridgeGP on 82953200 or make an appointment online here.

(Hat tip: Dr Oliver Frank)

Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com

If you’re employed, get a side hustle and get into business. If you’ve already got a business, get a network. Want to get started? Find your tribe here!

Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com

If you are a great GP or a great Allied Health Professional, and you want to serve your clients or patients to the best of your ability, without worrying about all the non clinical things that get in your way, lets talk. Call Mrs Hayley Roberts on 8295 3200 and have a coffee and chat with us as to how PartridgeGP can help you to help others.

tweetthreads

Happy Saturday – thought for the day is that blogs are no longer where the cool kids hang out…

I’m not convinced, but I am on twitter (right here). And…here’s a tweet thread in blog form!

Whether it’s in person, online, written, spoken, or a combination – we pride ourselves on our teamwork, people, and culture and we’re ready to share our professional skills and knowledge with you. This is only MORE important now, in the time of a global pandemic with a new vaccine on the horizon. The way forward is clear: make your appointment with us conveniently online right here – or call our friendly reception team on 82953200.

Take the next steps!

Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com

For everyone, we believe that having a usual GP or General Practice is central to each person’s care and recommend that people with any health issues that come to the attention of other health professionals should be advised to attend their usual GP or General Practice rather than a specialised service (ie a place not providing the holistic care a specialist GP would).   If  they say that they don’t have a usual GP or general practice, they should be helped to find one and to actually attend it. Call PartridgeGP on 82953200 or make an appointment online here.

(Hat tip: Dr Oliver Frank)

(TL;DR – Get a regular GP or General Practice and use them!)

Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com

If you’re employed, get a side hustle and get into business. If you’ve already got a business, get a network. Want to get started? Find your tribe here!

Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com
Photo by Linda Eller-Shein on Pexels.com

If you are a great GP or a great Allied Health Professional, and you want to serve your clients or patients to the best of your ability, without worrying about all the non clinical things that get in your way, lets talk. Call Mrs Hayley Roberts on 8295 3200 and have a coffee and chat with us as to how PartridgeGP can help you to help others.

teamwork

Thank Goodness Its Friday! A common saying but not one I’m fully on board with…

Mondays are no different to Fridays except in your perception. How many of you think TGI Monday? How would Mondays be different if you did?

You may have gathered from a previous post that I like my cricket, and while the result didn’t go the way I’d like, the recent series between Australia and India was a cracker. Jarrod Kimber sets the scene far better than I can:

Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar never even got on a plane. Rohit Sharma got delayed. Virat Kohli went home after one. KL Rahul was injured without playing. Mohammad Shami almost lost his arm after one Test. Umesh Yadav limped off after three innings. Ravindra Jadeja virtually had his thumb removed. Rishabh Pant had to get scans. Hanuma Vihari’s hamstring looks shot. 17 players have been used in three Tests. They might play as many as 19 to finish the series. 

India were beset by injuries and departures as you can read above. They still won the series. Perhaps they won because the Australians were fatigued after back to back to back games in a bubble. Perhaps the injection of fresh faces, fresh minds, and fresh bodies gave them an edge. Perhaps the better team just won, against all odds. The better team.

General Practice always involves teamwork – Your GP knows a fair bit about a lot, but there are always subject matter experts or specialists. We have Physiotherapy with Rod and Movement Theory, and Podiatry with Rosie from Foot and Sole Podiatry onsite, and we have THREE awesome psychologists to help your mental health and wellbeing – Mr Mark Edwards, Ms Monika Kolta, and introducing Ms Jen Riches!

We have an amazing team of GPs and doctors here at PartridgeGP! Dr Ciara Peddell (pronounced Kee-Ra, like the actress) has started, Dr Abby Mudford is continuing, Dr Elias Salagaras is starting, Dr Katherine Astill is returning, and Specialist Urology Services with Dr Nick Brook and the team from EastWest Urology are here now.

Our newer GPs and Registrars back up our more established GPs. Perhaps the injection of fresh faces, fresh minds, and fresh thinking give us an edge. Perhaps the better team will just win. The better team. PartridgeGP is founded on you having your own great GP, and we will always endeavour to have you see your own great GP. When this isn’t possible, when your GP is away, or when you need to be seen at short notice, isn’t it awesome that ALL of the GPs here take comprehensive notes, share information, and practice with the same ethos. You get the best of both worlds – the care, attention, and relationship with YOUR GP, and the benefits of our medical and nursing team as a backup and a bonus.

We pride ourselves on our teamwork, people, and culture and we’re ready to share our professional skills and knowledge with you. This is only MORE important now, in the time of a global pandemic with a new vaccine on the horizon. The way forward is clear: make your appointment with us conveniently online right here – or call our friendly reception team on 82953200.

Take the next steps!

Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com

For everyone, we believe that having a usual GP or General Practice is central to each person’s care and recommend that people with any health issues that come to the attention of other health professionals should be advised to attend their usual GP or General Practice rather than a specialised service (ie a place not providing the holistic care a specialist GP would).   If  they say that they don’t have a usual GP or general practice, they should be helped to find one and to actually attend it. Call PartridgeGP on 82953200 or make an appointment online here.

(Hat tip: Dr Oliver Frank)

(TL;DR – Get a regular GP or General Practice and use them!)

Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com

If you’re employed, get a side hustle and get into business. If you’ve already got a business, get a network. Want to get started? Find your tribe here!

Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com
Photo by Linda Eller-Shein on Pexels.com

If you are a great GP or a great Allied Health Professional, and you want to serve your clients or patients to the best of your ability, without worrying about all the non clinical things that get in your way, lets talk. Call Mrs Hayley Roberts on 8295 3200 and have a coffee and chat with us as to how PartridgeGP can help you to help others.

Guest Post 2: baby teeth

General Practice always involves teamwork – Your GP knows a fair bit about a lot, but there are always subject matter experts or specialists. We have Physiotherapy with Rod and Movement Theory, Specialist Urology Services with Dr Nick Brook and the team from EastWest Urology, and Podiatry with Rosie from Foot and Sole Podiatry onsite, but we know so many great practitioners offsite as well. One of these great experts is Danielle Newbery, BOH at Kensington Dental Care, and she has been kind enough (again) to share her expertise with us in this post. Take it away, Danielle!

Newborn oral health simplified for tired mums and dads.

When my twins were born, I had 3 babies under the age of 2. To suggest that I was tired was a massive understatement. I remember one night of severe sleep deprivation when I honestly thought my son’s penis had fallen off after mixing up my boy/girl twins in the middle of yet another sleepless night nappy change. New mums and dads experience a type of exhaustion that can only be truly understood by fellow parents.

With everything that is on your mind as a new parent, it’s easy to become overwhelmed with the information given to you. If you’re anything like me, if it’s overwhelming to do something, I do nothing. So, today I hope to simplify a few things for you about caring for your new babies mouth and teeth when they emerge. Ok, ready for a quick lesson? Good, me too! Lets go!

When can I give my baby a dummy? - BabyCenter Australia

Dummy or no dummy?

Ok, this one really annoys me as both a mum and an Oral Health Therapist. There seems to be this frequently recurring negative narrative about caregivers who give their babies dummies. For the record, all of my kids had dummies. My eldest boy, Alex, had his til he was 4 and the twins til they were 3 (I weaned them all at the same time). Babies are meant to suck. They suck to soothe, increase feeding strength, make them happy and to comfort them. In fact, suckling is one of the 5 womb sensations that trigger the baby’s innate calming reflex. Dummy use has even been shown to decrease the rate of SIDS, although the exact reason is still unknown. They can either suck on a breast, a bottle, a dummy or a thumb. 

As much as I loved breastfeeding, I had no desire to sit for hours on end while the babies used my sore cracked, bleeding nipples as a pacifier. Bottles and formula can be expensive and can cause bottle decay in babies, so that’s not ideal either. Thumbs are attached to the baby (funnily enough), so trying to remove a thumb from a child to wean them is literally impossible. So that leaves us with a dummy. You can read more about what kind of dummy is best. But apart from that, if a dummy soothes your baby and lets you get a few extra hours sleep, let them have a dummy. Trust me, it’s not the end of the world, but sleep deprivation can be. 

But a last word on dummies; please please please do not suck the dummy yourself or anyone else. Bacteria from your mouth can be transferred to the baby and it can have disastrous outcomes including decay, thrush, cold sores and even the common cold which you may not know you have. Carry spare clean dummies with you or rinse under cold running water if it gets dropped or soiled.

When to start brushing baby’s teeth?

Well, both of my boys were born with their lower front teeth present, called “natal teeth” so I started gently brushing their little teeth right from day 1, but what is best practice for others? Start when the baby is a few days old, good routines are established early. Cover your finger with a clean damp washcloth and gently wipe the inside of the baby’s mouth and gums. When baby teeth start to appear, around 6 months of age, start cleaning them using a very soft childrens toothbrush without any toothpaste. Bacteria starts to accumulate in babies’ mouths very soon after birth, so it’s important to start the daily habit of removing the oral bacteria early on. The bacteria that causes decay is transferred to the baby from caregivers, so regular dental check ups and daily good oral hygiene practices are a must for all caregivers too. 

Your child’s first dental appointment should be before their first birthday.

This also establishes good rapport and familiarity to the dental setting for the child so that future dental appointments are carried out easily without fear. You can read more about my recommendations for a child’s first dental appointment. I’ll talk more about caring for children’s teeth next week, let’s stick with newborns this week. If you are concerned about your newborns gums, mouth or teeth, make an appointment with your Oral Health Therapist for some excellent knowledge and advice.

Points to remember 

If your baby settles better suckling, a dummy is perfectly acceptable to use

Do not suck on the babies dummy yourself, rinse it clean under cold water

Start cleaning babies mouth early on with a clean damp cloth 

Use a soft toothbrush once teeth start to appear 

No toothpaste until the age of 2, then only use a children’s toothpaste with reduced fluoride

Adult strength toothpaste from age 6 

First dental check before babies first birthday 

Most of all do what works for you. Your Oral Health Therapist should be supportive, flexible and understanding of everyone’s needs. They are there to help you, not judge. 

Good luck! Get some sleep!

Thanks Danielle! PartridgeGP works with you to help you make your best health decisions. , and that includes recommending other practitioners to you who care as much as we do. Thanks Danielle! Read more from Danielle right here.

We pride ourselves on great communication and we’re ready to share our professional skills and knowledge with you. This is only MORE important now, in the time of a global pandemic with a new vaccine on the horizon. The way forward is clear: make your appointment with us conveniently online right here – or call our friendly reception team on 82953200.

Better, for you.

Want more?

Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com

For everyone, we believe that having a usual GP or General Practice is central to each person’s care and recommend that people with any health issues that come to the attention of other health professionals should be advised to attend their usual GP or General Practice rather than a specialised service (ie a place not providing the holistic care a specialist GP would).   If  they say that they don’t have a usual GP or general practice, they should be helped to find one and to actually attend it. Call PartridgeGP on 82953200 or make an appointment online here.

(Hat tip: Dr Oliver Frank)

(TL;DR – Get a regular GP or General Practice and use them!)

Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com

If you’re employed, get a side hustle and get into business. If you’ve already got a business, get a network. Want to get started? Find your tribe here!

Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com

If you are a great GP or a great Allied Health Professional, and you want to serve your clients or patients to the best of your ability, without worrying about all the non clinical things that get in your way, lets talk. Call Mrs Hayley Roberts on 8295 3200 and have a coffee and chat with us as to how PartridgeGP can help you to help others.

mutants

Many of you will be concerned about COVID19 mutant strains and many of you will be concerned about the vaccines available. Let’s reclaim copium and hopium and give some more reassuring information.

Don’t panic: New COVID strains are not ‘escape mutants’ and vaccines should still work. The variants have shut down nations and led to surges of new cases and deaths – but experts say current vaccines should still protect against the mutations. New COVID variants are increasing, but experts say there is no need to panic yet.Both the Brazilian and South African variants have a change that can reduce antibody binding, potentially reducing the efficacy of vaccines, as well as making a reinfection more likely. This polymorphism – e484k – is not present in the UK variant. The Brazilian variant has triggered a disastrous new tide of infection in the city of Manaus in the Amazon, where fully 75% of the population contracted the virus last year. This, experts fear, could point to a partial ‘immune escape’ – or suggest people who got milder cases in the first wave are faring worse with this new variant.

If they prove necessary, seasonal COVID vaccines could be available much faster than this first generation of vaccines.

Australia’s plan is to immunise our vulnerable and valuable elders in aged care first, along with those who care for them. This will be co-ordinated through special teams, and through hospitals, and will use the Pfizer vaccine (an mRNA vaccine with an amazing story I will write about soon).

In the second phase of vaccine rollout, with the Oxford/Astra Zeneca vaccine (a more traditional vaccine), Australian General Practice and PartridgeGP will do our bit to get those who want to be vaccinated protected ASAP, at scale, as safely as we can. Our plans are well advanced. It is super important to us to play our part – and important that people are informed, and not coerced. We can see that countries and areas overseas – the UK, Europe, the US – are being more affected by COVID, and they are having to take more risks than us. We will learn from them. We will have their data and experiences to look upon before we take the plunge ourselves.

But are they safe, I hear you ask? Well, I’ve also written about risk, here, and here, but today, as an introduction, I have a very very smart person describe a story where Australia’s contribution to world vaccination DID NOT work. It wasn’t up to scratch, and so they canned it. That should give us no little confidence in what has been approved. Enough of me – handing over to the super smart Ms Maddie Massy-Westropp.

A deal for the Australian government to purchase more than 50 million doses of a promising new COVID-19 vaccine, developed by the University of Queensland (UQ) and global biotechnology company CSL limited, has been abruptly terminated. In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange on December 11, UQ and CSL announced that the vaccine would not progress to Phase 2/3 clinical trials.

The UQ-CSL vaccine contains the Spike protein, a molecule located on the coronavirus surface. The Spike protein enables the virus to enter human and other animal host cells, where it replicates itself. When the vaccine is administered to a person, the immune system recognises the Spike protein and generates neutralising antibodies which can bind to it. If that person is exposed to COVID-19 in the future, those same antibodies can attack the Spike protein on the coronavirus surface, preventing the virus from entering host cells and replicating. The Spike protein was kept in a stable form in the vaccine using the novel, patented molecular clamp technology which UQ has been developing for the past 10 years.

However, the trial participants also had an immune response against the gp41 component of the vaccine. This has no health consequences at all, but widespread rollout of the vaccine could complicate the HIV screening process. Due to the production of gp41 antibodies, many people who have received the vaccine could falsely test positive on the standard HIV test. Community confidence in vaccine development is critical, with a new survey by The Australian National University showing that 41% of Australian adults would be hesitant about receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. 

A tough decision was made

On December 11, UQ and CSL together announced that clinical trials for their COVID-19 vaccine have been abandoned. Read the whole article here. The famous advert below rings true, and that why I have confidence in Australia’a COVID vaccination program.

PartridgeGP works with you to help you make your best health decisions, and we won’t back away from being your companion, guide, advisor, and sounding board through your health journey. We pride ourselves on great communication and we’re ready to share our professional skills and knowledge with you. This is only MORE important now, in the time of a global pandemic with a new vaccine on the horizon. The way forward is clear: make your appointment with us conveniently online right here – or call our friendly reception team on 82953200.

Better, for you.

Want more?

Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com

For everyone, we believe that having a usual GP or General Practice is central to each person’s care and recommend that people with any health issues that come to the attention of other health professionals should be advised to attend their usual GP or General Practice rather than a specialised service (ie a place not providing the holistic care a specialist GP would).   If  they say that they don’t have a usual GP or general practice, they should be helped to find one and to actually attend it. Call PartridgeGP on 82953200 or make an appointment online here.

(Hat tip: Dr Oliver Frank)

Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com

If you’re employed, get a side hustle and get into business. If you’ve already got a business, get a network. Want to get started? Find your tribe here!

Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com

If you are a great GP or a great Allied Health Professional, and you want to serve your clients or patients to the best of your ability, without worrying about all the non clinical things that get in your way, lets talk. Call Mrs Hayley Roberts on 8295 3200 and have a coffee and chat with us as to how PartridgeGP can help you to help others.

girt

Happy Australia Day to you all! The greatest country in the world to live in (arguably), the safest country in the world to live in, at the moment (no question in my opinion), and just a fantastic place full of fantastic people. I don’t have a lot to say today, but I’ll say a little bit.

I came to Australia in 1991 as an immigrant. I wasn’t wildly excited about the prospect. I’d never been here before. I knew little or nothing about the place. I had no idea about states, federations, history, and thought kangaroos were hopping down main streets. It was hot, bloody hot, and my first day of school was well over 40 degrees. There were some teething troubles, there were some growing pains as I adjusted to my new home, but it has all been well worth it. I am very, very grateful to Australia and so I say again, happy Australia Day to you all!

The next generation of proud Australians!

PartridgeGP works with you to help you make your best health decisions. We will take you through the risks as we see them – online, through our social media, our email newsletters, and in our consultations with you. We pride ourselves on great communication and we’re ready to share our professional skills and knowledge with you. This is only MORE important now, in the time of a global pandemic with new vaccines on the horizon. The way forward is clear: make your appointment with us conveniently online right here – or call our friendly reception team on 82953200.

Want more?

Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com

For everyone, we believe that having a usual GP or General Practice is central to each person’s care and recommend that people with any health issues that come to the attention of other health professionals should be advised to attend their usual GP or General Practice rather than a specialised service (ie a place not providing the holistic care a specialist GP would).   If  they say that they don’t have a usual GP or general practice, they should be helped to find one and to actually attend it. Call PartridgeGP on 82953200 or make an appointment online here.

(Hat tip: Dr Oliver Frank)

(TL;DR – Get a regular GP or General Practice and use them!)

Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com

If you’re employed, get a side hustle and get into business. If you’ve already got a business, get a network. Want to get started? Find your tribe here!

Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com

If you are a great GP or a great Allied Health Professional, and you want to serve your clients or patients to the best of your ability, without worrying about all the non clinical things that get in your way, lets talk. Call Mrs Hayley Roberts on 8295 3200 and have a coffee and chat with us as to how PartridgeGP can help you to help others.

slippers

The vaccines are coming!

Win, lose, or draw in 2020, you would have had to have been living under a rock to not be aware of the virus. It has coloured every aspect of life. People have died, people have lived, elections have been influenced, Presidents have fallen. How are we going to move past this? Let’s have a look at Bayesian thinking. Bayesian decision making involves basing decisions on the probability of a successful outcome, where this probability is informed by both prior information and new evidence the decision maker obtains. The statistical analysis that underlies the calculation of these probabilities is Bayesian analysis.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Bayesian thinking is probabilistic thinking – rather than this will or won’t happen, we consider what is more or less likely to happen. This applies to risk. As Jim O’Shaughnessy has said, ‘we are deterministic creatures living in a probabilistic world’. We want certainty. We get probabilities. Vaccines are not 100% effective or 100% safe (NOTHING IS). Neither are masks, nor social distancing, nor even simple hand sanitiser. Yet all of these, little by little, piece by piece, will lower our risk so we can get back to the new normal of life. Better probabilities, not 100% certainty. More poetically:

PartridgeGP works with you to help you make your best health decisions. We will take you through the risks as we see them – online, through our social media, our email newsletters, and in our consultations with you. We pride ourselves on great communication and we’re ready to share our professional skills and knowledge with you. This is only MORE important now, in the time of a global pandemic with new vaccines on the horizon. The way forward is clear: make your appointment with us conveniently online right here – or call our friendly reception team on 82953200.

Want more?

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For everyone, we believe that having a usual GP or General Practice is central to each person’s care and recommend that people with any health issues that come to the attention of other health professionals should be advised to attend their usual GP or General Practice rather than a specialised service (ie a place not providing the holistic care a specialist GP would).   If  they say that they don’t have a usual GP or general practice, they should be helped to find one and to actually attend it. Call PartridgeGP on 82953200 or make an appointment online here.

(Hat tip: Dr Oliver Frank)

(TL;DR – Get a regular GP or General Practice and use them!)

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If you’re employed, get a side hustle and get into business. If you’ve already got a business, get a network. Want to get started? Find your tribe here!

Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com

If you are a great GP or a great Allied Health Professional, and you want to serve your clients or patients to the best of your ability, without worrying about all the non clinical things that get in your way, lets talk. Call Mrs Hayley Roberts on 8295 3200 and have a coffee and chat with us as to how PartridgeGP can help you to help others.

The Golden Month v2.0

A guest post by the excellent Dr Kar Loong Ng of Next Generation Occupational Medicine – NGOM.

 

 

 

 

Time. Timing. Such a critical aspect of Medicine. When a patient is in VF (Ventricular Fibrillation) the medical team has seconds, tens of seconds to act before the probability of successful resuscitation decreases exponentially. Act too fast (not yelling ‘CLEAR’) whilst activating the defibrillator and they risk hurting a team member and losing further precious seconds whilst the machine recharges. Act too slow and the patient is lost forever.

 

The same principles apply for non-emergency musculoskeletal workplace injuries. More often than not, I encounter patients, employers and insurers who request for MRIs at early stages of injury when there is no medical indication. The fact of the matter is, there is very little correlation between most MRI findings and the patient’s current injury or problem. Kind of like seeing all the imperfections on footy player’s faces on a 4K TV during a game. Additionally there are quite a large number of studies that show that early spinal MRIs that are not medically indicated often result in poorer outcomes and disability. I once saw a worker who was in such severe pain due to his belief that his ‘discs are squashed, bulged and spinal cord and nerves crushed’. When viewed I his MRI scans and told him that there is mild bulging of his lower 2 lumbar discs , his immediate response was “That’s where my pain is !! Between my shoulder blades……..”

Another example is that of shoulder impingement syndrome. A subacromial injection early on the injury is not going to be of benefit if the patient is not aware of how to perform rotator cuff exercises. An injection too late will also have less chance of success.

It is all about timing. Right, Roger Federer?

I previously wrote about Specialised Early Intervention and Second Opinion Medicine. With both services, we have been able to successfully rehabilitate a good proportion of complex worker injuries to normal work, alternative work, new employment or community restoration. Unfortunately some patients do not do so well. Being a sub-specialist practice, all our patients are referred from GPs. Despite extensive communication to the GP community, employers, insurers and rehabilitation providers emphasising the importance of early referrals, our earliest referral over the past few years has been 7 weeks post injury. This was an outlier, with the average referral being 6 to 9 months old. Well…….it beats my record a few years back when I saw a 50 year old man (with a six-pack) who had been on benefits since 19 and could not remember which leg his sciatica was on………..

Successful Early Intervention requires implementation at 2 to 3 weeks post injury. Some people refer to it as ‘The Golden Month’. For complex worker injuries, there is now good evidence that screening and intervention at day 1 of injury result in a significant reduction in disability and cost.

We are now in the process of implementing this with the introduction of services to GPs. The aim is to provide patients, workers and employers with a personally tailored comprehensive suite of medical and allied health care, as well as quick but well-timed access to medical sub-specialists.

I feel like I have been playing the game of RISK over the past few years. Disability is the enemy. I hope this strategy contains it.

Thanks Kar – it’s inspiring to see the passion you have for returning injured workers to work! Getting you better is what we’re about at PartridgeGP and so we’ll be working together with NGOM whenever we see injured workers.

 

Here to Help

 

Our Doctors at PartridgeGP are Here to Help Injured Workers – you can meet them here.

 

 

Want more?

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is pexels-photo-1061142.jpeg
Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com

For everyone, we believe that having a usual GP or General Practice is central to each person’s care and recommend that people with any health issues that come to the attention of other health professionals should be advised to attend their usual GP or General Practice rather than a specialised service (ie a place not providing the holistic care a specialist GP would).   If  they say that they don’t have a usual GP or general practice, they should be helped to find one and to actually attend it. Call PartridgeGP on 82953200 or make an appointment online here.

(Hat tip: Dr Oliver Frank)

(TL;DR – Get a regular GP or General Practice and use them!)

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is pexels-photo-1061141.jpeg
Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com

If you’re employed, get a side hustle and get into business. If you’ve already got a business, get a network. Want to get started? Find your tribe here!

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is pexels-photo-1061140.jpeg
Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com

If you are a great GP or a great Allied Health Professional, and you want to serve your clients or patients to the best of your ability, without worrying about all the non clinical things that get in your way, lets talk. Call Mrs Hayley Roberts on 8295 3200 and have a coffee and chat with us as to how PartridgeGP can help you to help others.