Disaster preparedness and response

Some tips to help your practice prepare for an emergency or disaster include:

• download our 'General Practice Disaster management toolkit' which helps practices identify and implement processes to prepare, respond and recover from an emergency or a disaster
• develop an up-to-date emergency response plan
• exercise your plan on a regular basis (refer to this disaster planning and response checklist)
• contact other practices in your local area and agree on how you can offer mutual support
• have a plan in place to send communications to patients about service disruptions or changes.

The most effective support during a time of disaster is to consider extending general practice opening hours to accommodate an increase in patient demand.

If your general practice needs support, please complete a request with your details via this link.

We work closely with the Local Health Districts (LHDs) and emergency response agencies, who have frontline roles under statewide emergency management arrangements, to ensure that any resources we can source are provided in a coordinated way. You can also join our disaster response register if you are willing to assist during a disaster situation by providing in person or telehealth support.

Professional self-care

There is never a wrong time to seek help. Here are some options for support below:

• DRS4DRS: an independent program providing doctor-to-doctor confidential support and resources. Call (07) 3833 4352.
• Nurse Support Line: support service for primary health care nurses, providing access to professional advice and guidance. Call 1300 303 184.
• RACGP The GP Support Program: a free and confidential psychological support service available to all members. Call 1300 361 008.
• We partnered with David Younger, Clinical Psychologist, to produce two short videos with information about self-care during emergencies:
  • Self-care during and after emergencies
  • Promoting self-care when managing staff during and after emergencies.

RACGP Summer planning toolkit

Extreme weather events, continued virus and disease management, staff shortages, increases in presenting patients and practice closures over the holiday period can all place additional strain on your practice team. Check out the RACGP's Summer planning toolkit to help you in planning ahead for warmer weather and the end of the year holiday period.

Resources for your patients

Support your patients to prepare for or recovery from emergencies with the resources below:

• Download the Get ready for disasters in five simple steps
• Check the bushfire household assessment tool
• Learn how to prepare your home for a bush fire
• Life in Mind has a downloadable resource for those impacted by natural disasters and traumatic events

MBS telehealth items introduced on a temporary basis in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have now been made permanent. Find out more here.

You can also find information on temporary MBS items to support with treating COVID-19 positive patients through to 30 June 2024.

To assist practices in implementing these items, we partnered with healthdirect Australia to provide free access to their Video Call platform. Video Call is a telehealth platform that is web based, secure, has a virtual waiting room environment for patients and is purpose built for health care.

If you do not currently have a telehealth platform or would like any information or support, please contact our Digital Health Team via digitalhealth@coordinareuat.undev.com.au or call 1300 069 002.

Further information and resources can be found at the following links:

• Australasian Telehealth Society guides
• Electronic prescribing - Department of Health and Aged Care
• RACGP guide to providing telephone and video consultations
• Telehealth online module for nurses

Department of Health and Aged Care resources

• Case study from a Shoalhaven and Eurobodalla regions Aged Care provider
• Service continuity and emergency events in aged care
• Caring for Older People in heatwaves – Residential Aged Care
• COVID-19 guidelines for infection prevention and control in RACFs
• First 24 hours: managing COVID-19 in a RACF
• Guidelines for outbreaks in RACFs

NSW Health resources

• Advice for aged care services
• Protocol to support joint management of a COVID-19 outbreak in a RACF in NSW

We are committed to supporting general practice through every phase of a disaster or medical emergency. See below two case studies from practices in our PHN region on how they navigated the pandemic:

• Bulli Medical Practice
• Centre Health

As all general practices have had to adapt rapidly to the increase in demand from patients for support with COVID-19, it’s great when we can share experiences between local practices. Some practices have shared their current workflows to support others also experiencing similar challenges:

• Bulli Medical Practice
• Terralong Street Surgery
• Woonona Medical Practice

We have developed a quality improvement toolkit, Living with COVID in the community, to help practices identify and implement processes to support at-risk members of the community.

In March 2022 we held two infection control webinars, you can find the recordings below:

• Webinar 1: COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) and ventilation update
• Webinar 2: Basic infection prevention and control

You can also find relevant COVID-19 information on our Immunisation or Infection control webpages.

COORDINARE's new quality improvement toolkit, Living with COVID in the community, supports general practice to review practice systems in the context of COVID-19 being the new normal and implementing improvements to ensure practices are best placed to provide patients with the right care, at the right time. The toolkit focuses on four patient management activities including:

• at-risk patients
• managing COVID-19-positive patients and prescribing antiviral therapies
• follow-up of patients after COVID-19 infection
• identification and management of patients with Post COVID-19 or Long COVID. 

We held two Long COVID education sessions to support GPs understanding, managing, and diagnosing Long COVID. Speakers included Professor Steven Faux, Allison Maher, Ruth Nelson and Dr Stuart Tan. You can find the recordings below:

• Education session 1: Managing the silent wave
• Education session 2: Lived and local

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has created a guide for patients on managing post COVID-19 symptoms at home. It includes advice on managing fatigue, easing muscle and joint pain, and managing a cough or any breathlessness. Other useful resources include: 

• Getting help for Long COVID - Department of Health and Aged Care
• Long COVID - NSW Health
• Understanding post COVID-19 symptoms and Long COVID - healthdirect
• Long COVID Resources - Lung Foundation Australia

Vulnerable populations may require specific support throughout COVID-19. See below for some useful resources:

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

• COVID-19 and flu Aboriginal health resources - NSW Health
• COVID-19 resources for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health professionals – Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives (CATSINaM) and partners
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and COVID-19 – Department of Health and Aged Care
• Guide to COVID-19 – Australian Indigenous Doctors' Association

Culturally and linguistically diverse communities

• COVID-19 in-language resources – NSW Multicultural Health Communication Service
• Easy read and translated resources – NSW Health

 LGBTIQ+ communities 

• Information for LGBTQ people and people living with HIV – ACON

People with disability

• NDIS COVID-19 information and support – NDIS