Welcome to the July 2008 E-Newsletter.

To date, SSRS Projects have delivered more than 80 CPD and eduaction activities to more than 400 rural specialists. Please go to the Events page on the SSRS website for more information on upcoming events.

The SSRS would like to thank Gary Disher for his commitment to the Program over the last six years and wish him all the best with the future as he moves on to new things. Gary has been involved with the SSRS since its inception and has been instrumental in its development. Gary's final day as SSRS National Program Director was fittingly at this years SSRS 2008 Forum.

Picture: Mr Gary Disher, SSRS 2008 Forum

This years Forum was held at the Airport Hilton Hotel Melbourne, on Friday 4 July, 2008. Overall the forum received positive feedback from participants who enjoyed the opportunity to network with specialists and college staff, as well as engage in discussions surrounding learning outcomes from current projects and potential future strategies to support specialists working in rural and remote Australia.

The interactive session around delivering peer review to the rural specialist was especially insightful and the SSRS Program Management Unit will be working to develop an informative paper on this topic to inform future SSRS projects.

Several themes also emerged from the day, including ways in which SSRS projects can better engage overseas trained specialists and trainees and the SSRS will be taking these factors into consideration prior to any future funding rounds.

The SSRS would like to thank all those who attended, especially the presenters on the day and the small group facilitators involved in the interactive session around peer review.

Picture: Professor Russell Stitz, Chair of the Committee of Presidents of Medical Colleges and SSRS Program Management Committee, SSRS 2008 Forum

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Gynaecologists in collaboration with the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, Division of Paediatrics and Child Health have been implementing a Project that seeks to improve the audit, investigation and peer review skills of rural specialists (obstetricians and paediatricians) who have been involved in perinatal adverse events ("near misses") that have resulted in a transfer to a neonatal intensive care unit or a perinatal death.

So far eight sites in rural South Australia and Western Australia have carried out retrospective audits, involving external auditors (clinicians) facilitating and critiquing the process. The Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand (PSANZ) Perinatal Mortality Audit Guidelines were used in the audit process to enable a systematic approach to the investigation.

By learning from these adverse events, clinicians can improve clinical and organisational practice, thereby improving the safety and quality of care that is offered by the maternity unit. The feedback shared between peers has been found to be especially useful for isolated rural specialists. Preliminary results have included the improved communication and feedback skills of clinicians, a greater understanding of how and what to audit after a perinatal death or near miss and an increased awareness and support for the implementation of the PSANZ Guidelines in obstetric units.

Dr Pallavi Desai, an AoN specialist practising in Broome and Derby received an audit visit from two colleagues and “….found it wonderful to have the support of the College. The visit provided our maternity team with a unique opportunity for structured peer review, something that isn’t easy to achieve in remote locations.” Dr Desai has recently received the subsequent report and is pleased that it “… provided independent assessment of issues about patient care.” Dr Desai is now looking forward to working with the midwives and the clinical services group to implement the recommendations.
 

Associate Professor Richard Turner is a Consultant General Surgeon with Cairns Base Hospital and an Associate Professor in Surgery at James Cook University School of Medicine and Dentistry. A/Prof. Turner has been based in Cairns for the last 10 years after spending two years working in the UK and France followed by a 12-month stint in Townsville.

Richard has been instrumental in developing the ‘Northern Australian Surgeons Network’, currently being implemented under Round Seven of the SSRS. This Project provides monthly continuing professional development peer presentations via video-link where content is determined by the participants and includes case discussions, literature reviews, focused suits and topic updates by external experts.

“Being involved in SSRS projects has afforded me a sense of collegiality with surgeons and trainees in similar circumstances in geographically disparate locations. This would be difficult to achieve without the pro-active support of the SSRS and together we can develop collective expertise. I have also come to realise that CPD activities are a significant factor in workforce sustainability in rural and regional areas. The SSRS has made a valuable contribution, and may it continue to do so!”

The SSRS would like to acknowledge A/Prof. Turner for his dedication to the Program and his commitment to practice improvement initiatives in Northern Australia.
 

The SSRS will now be sitting under the Office of Rural Health which has been established within the Department of Health and Ageing. The Office of Rural Health has been created to drive rural health reform and is in response to the findings of the Audit of Health Workforce in Rural and Regional Australia.

The Office will draw together rural workforce and rural service delivery programs, and will provide a focus for the reform of federal rural health policy and programs.

As a first priority, over the next 12 months the office will review the Australian Governments 60 targeted rural health programs, as well as the classification systems that determine eligibility for rural program funding.