‘No man is an island’, wrote John Donne in 1624. It’s as true today as it was then; perhaps more so in our connected world and economy. Australia is a wealthy island and arguably the best place in the world at any time, and especially during a pandemic. COVID-19 has been to health what the GFC was to the economy in 2008-9. How do we move forward? Jeremy Irons’ character in Margin Call gives three ways: ‘Be first, be smartest, or cheat. I don’t cheat and it’s a hell of a lot easier to be first than smartest’.
Not Jeremy Irons
Australia has benefitted from being a wealthy island and we have been spared from the mortality and morbidity of COVID-19. We can see India struggling with this now (click here to help them out!). How can we move forward? Dr Nick Coatsworth, moving on from his widely quoted ‘make your bed‘, says vaccination. Like me, he thinks zeroism is a false god. Like me, he thinks voluntary vaccination is the way to go. What will that take?
Many of you may have concerns about the vaccines; here is some reading and I will get some more information up in the next couple of days. Let’s get open and move forwards!
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 with new vaccines here to END the pandemic. 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
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.
On 8 April 2021 the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) recommended that Pfizer vaccine is preferred over the AstraZeneca vaccine for people aged under 50 years.
In line with this, state vaccination clinics will prioritise:
· The Pfizer vaccine for people under 50 years of age, with consideration of priority groups eligible during each phase (see below).
The AstraZeneca vaccine for people aged 50 years and over.
People eligible for COVID-19 vaccination under the South Australian rollout can now make an appointment via the online booking system.
Some people with specific health and vaccination requirements require a GP referral and must use a different vaccination pathway to make their appointment.
People aged 50 years and over
People aged 50 years and over with a history of cerebral venous thrombosis, heparin-induced thrombocytopenia and thrombosis with thrombocytopaenia syndrome should be referred to the RAH Specialist Vaccine Clinic as per the below process.
In line with the Australian Government COVID-19 vaccine rollout, at this time there are no other criteria for a person aged 50 years or over to receive the Pfizer vaccine.
Referrals to the RAH Specialist Vaccine Clinic
People who have the below contraindications should be referred to receive their COVID-19 vaccine at a Specialist Vaccine Clinic. This applies to people both under and over the age of 50. A template referral is attached to this email.
· Have a history of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST), heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT), thrombosis with thrombocytopaenia syndrome (TTS) and other situations where it is medically indicated.
· Have had an immediate severe hypersensitivity reaction (occurring within 1 hour) after first dose of COVID vaccine.
· Have a past history of anaphylaxis to polyethylene glycol (PEG, Macrogol) (all weights).
· Have a past history of anaphylaxis to any component of the COVID-19 vaccine or other vaccine.
· Have a history of severe immediate type 1 allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) to multiple drugs, or multiple unexplained episodes of anaphylaxis.
Have a history severe unexplained illness after receiving COVID vaccination requiring hospitalisation for greater than 24 hours.
People with these indications should be referred to:
Specialist COVID Vaccination Clinic Level 3C
Royal Adelaide Hospital, Central Adelaide Local Health Service
Direct line : 08 7074 0787 Direct fax : 08 7074 6135
As per clinical guidance from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI), the Pfizer and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines are not considered interchangeable.
The two-dose course should be completed with the same vaccine. There is no data yet on the efficacy of mixed schedules.
If a person had an anaphylaxis or severe allergic reaction after their first dose of vaccine, they should be referred to the RAH Specialist Vaccine Clinic as per the above process.
Recently an Expression of Interest (EOI) was sought from the GP network, for SA Health’s additional supply of AstraZeneca to support the vaccination of individuals 50 years and older.
We received a large number of responses and we will now work directly with the selected GPs to arrange delivery of up to 1000 extra doses of AstraZeneca.
The selection process was based on the analysis of average AstraZeneca vaccination rates by postcode across the State with those areas which were below the average being prioritised for allocation.
SA Health remains open to ongoing transfer of excess AstraZeneca to the GP network if the opportunity presents and we will refer back to the original EOI’s to support this.
ATAGI update on AstraZeneca
The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation met this week to review the latest developments relating to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine and thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS). You can read the latest statement on the website.
It seems like 2021 is going to be another year that just keeps giving: this months issue, sadly not an April Fools, is the apparent small increase in rare blood clotting problems with one of the COVID vaccine formulations. The problems appear to be low platelets and/or cerebral venous sinus thrombosis.
Experts (if Norman Swan can be called an expert in anything other than denigrating GPs, rabble rousing, and accepting fat paycheques) are divided on the issue:
Sometimes medical advice from your GP can come across this way. Sometimes we get the opportunity to walk the walk as well as talk the talk. It’s been a super challenging week for our front desk team at PartridgeGP as they have had to field a huge number of calls from people about the vaccine and phase 1b rollout. The government has hugely mismanaged this, mainly through micromanagement and a lack of appreciation for the fact that GPs have been doing the majority of vaccinations in this country for the last 20+ years. We are efficient and excellent.
government – big spend writ small
Still, I don’t dwell on the failings of control freakery from public servants. We could be here all day. Instead I spent 20 minutes having my first dose of COVID-19 vaccine under phase 1b of Australia’s vaccination program!
Many of you may have some concerns about rare blood clotting issues and pauses in vaccination programs elsewhere. The RACGP addresses these concerns here and below (spoiler: not very much to worry about in almost all cases):
The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) on safety of the Oxford University/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, ATAGI has issued further advice related to the suitability of the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine for people with a history of clotting conditions.
The updated advice stems from reviews conducted by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), European Medicines Agency (EMA) and World Health Organization, which pored over data from millions of recipients following reports of blood clots in some European countries.
As of 16 March, the EMA had reported 18 cases of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) from millions of vaccine recipients, leading several European countries to pause their rollout of Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccines.
However, the subsequent reviews have concluded that the benefits of the vaccine continue to outweigh the potential risks.
‘There is no increase in the rates of general thromboembolic disorders after vaccination over expected rates, noting these conditions occur commonly in the absence of vaccination,’ ATAGI states.
REMEMBER, WE ONLY HAVE 80-100 VACCINES A WEEK AND BEING RUDE TO OUR AWESOME FRONT DESK STAFF WON’T CHANGE 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 with new vaccines here to END the pandemic. 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
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.
Part of the comprehensive care we provide at PartridgeGP includes visiting ResidentialAged Care Facilities
It is a pleasure and a privilege to serve our older patients
We MUST remember certain rules
You MUST see your patient (face to face or via telephone/telehealth) for them to claim a Medicare Rebate
There is NO such thing as a QUICK LOOK
Older patients are frail – do not prescribe powerful medications (opioids, benzodiazepines, anti-hypertensives) without careful consideration and review.
The Swiss Cheese model of accident causation, originally proposed by James Reason, likens human system defences to a series of slices of randomly-holed Swiss Cheese arranged vertically and parallel to each other with gaps in-between each slice.
We spend time developing a relationship with the facilities as well as our patients. This builds trust and all parties know more about the capabilities, needs, and limitations of the other. This is not just a residential aged care issue – this is an issue with hospitals as well. I have mentioned this here and here.
“PASSING the baton” describes what health care professionals try to achieve as care of patients is transferred between providers in our complex health care systems. The safety concerns related to poor clinical handover are not new: it’s a problem the health care industry and doctors as a profession have been grappling with for decades. Poor clinical handovers are wasteful of limited resources. How can we improve patient outcomes and “drop the baton” less often?
There is not a pill for every ill. Recent studies have shown what we have long thought – many medications are just not that useful for our elders. We can, will, and do support our fantastic residential aged care facilities and their staff in looking after our patients/residents without multiple excess medications. Facilities are labouring under the imposts of paperwork and bureaucracy. We will help!
Let’s continue with this!
There is not a pill for every ill and pills do not substitute for great nursing care. We will support our patients to live their best lives and we will support our Residential Aged Care Facilities and their staff in helping them do that as well. After all, some of these medications just don’t work as well as they say they do…
Calling after hours doctors (often NOT GPs) during the after hours period, when regular staff are not on, and expecting them to do great work, speaks to a failure during the in hours period, in my opinion. Clear communication, documentation, and direction based on regular in hours reviews with patients, staff, and families, should reduce inappropriate prescribing of sedative hypnotics – and reduce falls, improve quality use of medicines, and potentially, add life to years rather than years to (sedated) life.
Urine. It’s not the window to the soul. Urine samples should only be sent to the lab when the clinical decision has been made to use antibiotics. A urine dipstick (a plastic strip with colour coded boxes that turn different colours in the setting of infection or abnormalities) is more than enough to make clinical decisions with. Don’t waste money looking at urine for no reason.
Don’t just leave medications on a drug chart without thinking about whether they are still needed. A drug chart full of entries is time nursing staff have to spend with pills and charts rather than with patients. Pills aren’t care…in fact they eat away at the time and attention allocated to care. Less is very often more.
Sometimes, people need to be restrained, chemically or physically, for their own benefit. This should be safe, legal, and rare. This is always a case where some calm talking with patients, staff, and families, can produce better outcomes.
PartridgeGP works with all involved with aged care to help make better health decisions, and we won’t just ‘have a quick look’. We pride ourselves on great communication and we’re ready to share our professional skills and knowledge with you.
Let us be the missing piece in your puzzle! 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
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.
Part of the comprehensive care we provide at PartridgeGP includes visiting ResidentialAged Care Facilities
It is a pleasure and a privilege to serve our older patients
We MUST remember certain rules
You MUST see your patient (face to face or via telephone/telehealth) for them to claim a Medicare Rebate
There is NO such thing as a QUICK LOOK
Older patients are frail – do not prescribe powerful medications (opioids, benzodiazepines, anti-hypertensives) without careful consideration and review.
This appears to be a Swiss Cheese problem. The Swiss Cheese model of accident causation, originally proposed by James Reason, likens human system defences to a series of slices of randomly-holed Swiss Cheese arranged vertically and parallel to each other with gaps in-between each slice.
Reason hypothesizes that most accidents can be traced to one or more of four levels of failure:
Organisational influences,
Unsafe supervision,
Preconditions for unsafe acts, and
The unsafe acts themselves.
In the Swiss Cheese model, an organisation’s defences against failure are modelled as a series of barriers, represented as slices of the cheese. The holes in the cheese slices represent individual weaknesses in individual parts of the system, and are continually varying in size and position in all slices. The system as a whole produces failures when holes in all of the slices momentarily align, permitting “a trajectory of accident opportunity”, so that a hazard passes through holes in all of the defences, leading to an accident.
We spend time developing a relationship with the facilities as well as our patients. This builds trust and all parties know more about the capabilities, needs, and limitations of the other. This is not just a residential aged care issue – this is an issue with hospitals as well. I have mentioned this here and here.
“PASSING the baton” describes what health care professionals try to achieve as care of patients is transferred between providers in our complex health care systems. The safety concerns related to poor clinical handover are not new: it’s a problem the health care industry and doctors as a profession have been grappling with for decades. Poor clinical handovers are wasteful of limited resources. How can we improve patient outcomes and “drop the baton” less often?
Communication is key – better communication equals better outcomes. Documentation of communication is the secret sauce.
Of course, our fundamental ethos of time and care for our patients and their families doesn’t stop as they progress to residential care – Advance Care Directives allow THEIR wishes to take centre stage at all times. In addition to these, we believe fewer medications, less often can be a boon. To paraphrase Christian Ryan (writing about Shane Warne of all things!), we aim to be: Like the great classical painters, we stumble upon the art of simplicity. Our prescribing was never simpler, nor more effective, nor lovelier to look at. Medication reviews and keeping up to date help a lot with this. Telehealth can also help.
There is not a pill for every ill. Recent studies have shown what we have long thought – many medications are just not that useful for our elders. We can, will, and do support our fantastic residential aged care facilities and their staff in looking after our patients/residents without multiple excess medications. Facilities are labouring under the imposts of paperwork and bureaucracy. We will help!
PartridgeGP works with all involved with aged care to help make better health decisions, and we won’t just ‘have a quick look’. We pride ourselves on great communication and we’re ready to share our professional skills and knowledge with you.
Let us be the missing piece in your puzzle! 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
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.
Part of the comprehensive care we provide at PartridgeGP can include visiting ResidentialAged Care Facilities. While it is a pleasure and a privilege to serve our older patients, we MUST remember certain rules:
You MUST see your patient (face to face or via telephone/telehealth) for them to claim a Medicare Rebate
(You may spend some time with their notes and then a brief consult – your patient can claim a Medicare rebate for this, but there is no time able to be claimed for reviewing the notes without attending to your patient)
There is NO such thing as a QUICK LOOK
Older patients are frail – do not prescribe powerful medications (opioids, benzodiazepines, anti-hypertensives) without careful consideration and review.
The story below highlights this…
EVERY square is 80mg of Oxycontin a day!
I have omitted the identifying details in the story below – it is not intended to malign any particular doctor or area, just to highlight the dangers to doctors, and most importantly, our valued elder patients.
A GP has been suspended for six months after prescribing oxycodone to a nursing home patient they didn’t examine and later prescribing fentanyl patches to the same patient without checking their drug history. The doctor was visiting another patient when nurses asked him to prescribe a painkiller for an elderly resident.
The doctor, who had first consulted with the patient two years ago at the practice, did not examine or check records before prescribing oxycodone 5mg four times daily. Authorities heard that, five days later, the nurses incorrectly told the doctor the oxycodone was not working, so the patient was then examined and prescribed a 50mcg/hr fentanyl patch.
The patient subsequently fell unconscious for several days. When the doctor was called, they diagnosed a stroke and prescribed morphine for palliative care. The patient died soon after.
An expert GP witness said the fentanyl patch was unnecessarily strong and the patient’s ‘stroke’ could have been a narcotic overdose. “In the presence of pin-point pupils which are reactive and in a situation where a patient has recently been administered a narcotic analgesic, it would stand to reason that narcotic overdose could be a diagnosis”.
It emerged during the tribunal hearing that there were no records at the nursing home that the patient received the oxycodone the GP had prescribed.
The tribunal said that the nurses incorrectly told the GP that the oxycodone was not working and they should have also asked for a medical review when the patient fell unconscious after the fentanyl script was administered.
But the tribunal stressed that the GP should have examined the patient before prescribing oxycodone and should have checked the patient’s medication chart before prescribing fentanyl to determine whether they were opioid naïve. Even had they received oxycodone, 50mcg/hr fentanyl was still “excessively high”, the tribunal concluded.
The GP admitted the main charges, although claiming the nurses were told to make contact if the patient’s condition changed after the fentanyl patch was applied, which they did not do.
The tribunal found the GP guilty of professional misconduct and a suspension of six months was advised, with the further condition of being banned from prescribing opioids unless extra education modules were completed.
This appears to be a Swiss Cheese problem. The Swiss Cheese model of accident causation, originally proposed by James Reason, likens human system defences to a series of slices of randomly-holed Swiss Cheese arranged vertically and parallel to each other with gaps in-between each slice.
Reason hypothesizes that most accidents can be traced to one or more of four levels of failure:
Organisational influences,
Unsafe supervision,
Preconditions for unsafe acts, and
The unsafe acts themselves.
In the Swiss Cheese model, an organisation’s defences against failure are modelled as a series of barriers, represented as slices of the cheese. The holes in the cheese slices represent individual weaknesses in individual parts of the system, and are continually varying in size and position in all slices. The system as a whole produces failures when holes in all of the slices momentarily align, permitting “a trajectory of accident opportunity”, so that a hazard passes through holes in all of the defences, leading to an accident.
Tomorrow, we will go through all the ways that PartridgeGP does things a little differently.
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.
Let us be the missing piece in your puzzle! 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
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.
I recently introduced the family to Back to the Future and then I saw these pictures. They just made me feel good, so I hope they do the same for all of you!
The 20s in the 80s
The 80s in the 20s
PartridgeGP works with you to help you make your best health decisions, and we will always try and make you feel better – and even make you feel good! 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
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.
Saturdays deep thought of the day is on the humble activities that back up what we do at PartridgeGP. No one is ever going to wax lyrically about invoicing, cleaning, filing, scanning, or plumbing for general practice, but they all need to be done, and done well, so we can serve you better.
Nothing substitutes for pleasant conduct and good service. 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
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.
I was also, at the same time, working on the vision for our business; something that I’d been working on for the past few months but only in bits and pieces. The Christmas break was finally the time to give it a good, hard crack.
As I worked on the puzzle and the vision, I couldn’t help but observe how alike they are.
The clearer the final picture, the easier it is to work towards
The clearer the final picture, the easier it is to fit the pieces
The clearer the final picture, the easier it is for everyone to work together
Jamming the pieces doesn’t work
You know when something fits
Be prepared to undo some pieces and fit them elsewhere
The simplest moves can make all the difference
Just because you are crystal clear on the end goal doesn’t mean you won’t make mistakes on the way there
Now, the analogy of a business vision as a jigsaw is, in my opinion, a great mental model. Scott Adams notes that analogies are good tools for explaining a concept to someone for the first time. One downside is that all discussions that involve analogies devolve into arguments about the quality of the analogy, not the underlying situation. So, to avoid this, I’m going to use my own analogy to be on an equal footing. I’ve never completed a jigsaw so I’m going to pull out the Lego!
Analogies aren’t all bad!
Dr Nick, the goal, the end, and the box
We will start in the same place, Lego and Jigsaw. Peter says the clearer the final picture, the easier it is to work towards. I will say, borrowing from Stephen Covey, start with the end in mind. This is easy, with Lego, and Jigsaws, because the end is pictured on the box. You can, literally, choose your own adventure. Real life is a little more complex though, and sometimes the end in mind at the outset changes during the journey. My Lego Porsche GT3RS has 8000+ pieces. With 1 (yes, ONE) additional piece and $15 worth of additional instructions, you can build something even more amazing.
The people at Rebrickable set out to change that and discovered anybody could build a Stratos out of the same pieces found in the 911 GT3RS kit.
Completed by Ashley Winston and blogged by Hooniverse, the Stratos arguably looks more accurate, less awkward, cooler, and is certainly more unique than the GT3RS kit it is spawned from. To be specific, it is modeled after the 1974 Lancia Stratos Stradale HF.
Stratos-pherically awesome
So for me, start with the end in mind, but have systems rather than goals, an ethos rather than a fixed statement. Be open to the journey leading to a different place.
Peter alludes to this when he says be prepared to undo some pieces and fit them elsewhere and just because you are crystal clear on the end goal doesn’t mean you won’t make mistakes on the way there. A goal that mandates no mistakes means you can never fail. This means you can’t take any risks. Rory Sutherland says taking no risk makes you very very predictable, and therefore very very vulnerable. Antifragility is a beautiful thing, as another great thinker, Nassim Nicholas (solid name there) Taleb said in his book of the same name.
One thing Peter doesn’t mention, because it’s not a jigsaw thing, is sometimes you have to discard pieces. You can’t play an A game with C players, and even if they are A players, sometimes they are not A players in your game. I love topgradings X/Y axis for this. I guess this is where those additional parts come in! I wonder if there are some savants out there who mix and match jigsaw sets to produce genius? For the less gifted amongst us, Peter has further advice: The simplest moves can make all the difference. If it’s not a hell yes…it’s a no. Sherlock Holmes said it well, once you have excluded all the possibilities you can exclude, whatever is left must contain the answer. Sometimes it’s obvious that people need to go. You know when something, or someone, fits. (As an aside, here is a link to an awesome answer to how you improve diversity and alignment in your company!)
Hire Alignment/Ethos, Train Skill
So now that I’ve quoted many great thinkers (and I count Peter Rufus in that group), I’ve got the appetite to go work on my own Lego – back to PartridgeGP (our website is by Peter and Nicknack as well), to help, support, and work with our valued patients, GPs, allied health professionals, nurses, and fantastic staff!
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.
Let us be the missing piece in your puzzle! 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
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.
So, personally I’ve been one month OFF alcohol now. I’ve booked in to run a half marathon and will get back towards the glory days! However, I’ve still made time to catch up with Doug Phillips of Hallmark Commerical and his Men’s Health group, at some pub venues around Adelaide. For me, there has been no beer. For others, a couple. No one has felt the need for more. It’s been great. Enough about me, let’s hand over to the man, the myth, the legend – Doug Phillips!
Before we start here, it’s probably important to clarify that I’m not a Health Care Professional. Not at all. In fact, I’m a construction industry professional. By now you may be wondering what business I have writing a blog about men’s health for a medical practice, and that makes two of us. But here we are, so let’s just see where this goes.
The closest I come to being qualified to comment on anything health-related is my association with a group that (funnily enough), revolves around two topics that are normally considered ‘unhealthy’. Beer and pub food. I organise a group of blokes who get together once a fortnight at a different pub each week, to have a few beers and enjoy some pub grub.
PARMY AND A PINT.
Beer and parmys aren’t the focus of the group though. They are the two interests we all have in common, but the group is actually about promoting men’s health. Our fortnightly meetups are designed to be an environment where men can talk openly about anything they want, which promotes discussions about physical and mental health. Two topics that Australian men are notorious for neglecting.
Most of the time we just talk non-health-related stuff though. Sport, women, work, kids, the usual topics. Occasionally something will come up in conversation that leans more towards a mental health discussion, and that’s great, but not imperative. Just having a space where men can feel relaxed and off-guard without fear of being labelled weak or a “pussy”, is often all the respite required to allow men to relax and recharge.
THIS IS NO ‘LOCKER ROOM’.
The group is organised through a Facebook group, which can be a risk sometimes. We aim to be non-judgemental and promote healthy attitudes. But a group consisting solely of blokes can sometimes find itself with memes or other content posted that border on sexist or unhealthy. For example, the relationship between men, their women, and their beer, or jokes about drinking that seem funny at first, until you drill down and realise that they are only funny due to our unhealthy attitudes towards drinking in Australian culture.
So neither the group, its outcomes, its members, or its management are perfect, but that’s part of the point really. In a world where men can often feel like we’re expected to be perfect, while constantly having it pointed out how far from perfect we are, sitting back with a beer and a deep-fried chunk of meat amongst other men who don’t expect perfection is a little vacation in the lives of men who want to do better, and are actively attempting to do so.
SCIENCE TOLD ME TO DO IT.
There are a plethora of articles out there suggesting that beers with your mates down the pub is actually good for your health (Google “Study Suggests Blokes Should Enjoy A Pint At The Pub With Their Mates Twice A Week“). So if you’re finding that you often feel frustrated, anxious, depressed, unsatisfied, or any other negative emotions, perhaps what you need is a pint at the pub with your mates, but regularly.
FOR THE GREATER GOOD.
And Ladies, please don’t take this just as an excuse for your man to get on the piss. That’s not what this is about. In fact, men who look after their mental health well are generally better husbands, fathers, and members of society. I might be that all you need to do to help your man be the best man he can be, is to drop him off at the pub and pick him up a few hours later. Pretty easy really. I know less about women’s health than I do men’s health even, but logic would suggest that a regular pub night for you Ladies would be a great idea too.
Thanks Doug, love your work (and if you think his writing is good, wait until you see how good he is at his day job!). Men, if you’re keen to explore this further – in a group, or in a consult, hit the links above or below, for the NOMAD Hotel Social Club, or PartridgeGP!
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?
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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!
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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.
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 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.
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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.
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