Issue 45 September 2009

Contents
All Pages
Page 12 of 14

Shared Care

More GPs in private practice and community health contribute to treatment services.

In South Australia, approximately 16,000 people have been infected with hepatitis C. Treatment for hepatitis C has improved dramatically in recent years, with between 50-80% of people who undergo treatment now achieving a sustained virological response, meaning they are effectively cured.
Treatment consists of a 6-12 month regimen of pegylated interferon and ribavirin, and is associated with significant side effects.

SA Health is building consensus on a statewide model of shared care for hepatitis C treatment to increase support for patients, to make treatment more locally accessible, and to increase General Practitioners’ hepatitis C knowledge.

For the first time in SA, the model will include an accreditation system for General Practitioners to prescribe highly specialised drugs for maintaining treatment after it has been initiated by a specialist.

On Friday and Saturday, 20-21 June, more than 15 GPs attended the first intensive training course as part of this new approach. The two-day course was organised by ASHM and Nunkuwarrin Yunti, which has been running a liver clinic for more than two years (for more information, see issue 37 for several in-depth features—this issue is available online at www.hepccouncilsa.asn.au/resources/magazine/134-issue-37-september-2007).

The in-depth training included learning how to prescribe the S100-rated hepatitis C medications.
Combination therapies Pegasys RBV and Pegatron, and monotherapies PEGIntron Redipen and Pegasys, are listed as highly specialised drugs under Section 100 of the National Health Act. These drugs can only be prescribed by specialist hospital units and dispensed through pharmacies within hospitals that participate in the Highly Specialised Drug Program. Medical practitioners must be formally associated with specialist hospitals to prescribe these drugs as pharmaceutical benefit items. This training is the first step in extending this capability to the enrolled GPs, making hepatitis C treatment more broadly available.

Among those presenting at the training was Jill Benson, who we would like to congratulate for winning the annual Australian Medical Association (SA) Award, which honours the work of doctors who have given outstanding service to others, or to their chosen field. With this award, the AMA(SA) this year acknowledged Dr Jill Benson’s untiring work across diverse spheres of medical practice, incorporating rural and remote health, Indigenous health, migrant and refugee health, transcultural mental health, and doctors’ health.

 

jill_benson

Jill Benson

A depth of care for the profession and for patients has been a hallmark of Jill’s career. She has shown a willingness to “go beyond the comfort” zone to help others, whether in Adelaide, a remote Indigenous community, or overseas, and has taught and written on many topics relating to her areas of interest.

The Director of the Health in Human Diversity Unit of the Discipline of General Practice at the University of Adelaide , and a general practitioner for almost 30 years, she currently works with refugees at the Migrant Health Service in Adelaide, as well as in the remote Aboriginal community at Yalata, and has also worked in a teaching hospital in Dharan in rural eastern Nepal. The AMA(SA) Award was awarded to Jill Benson due to her commitment to working in difficult and often unheralded areas of medicine, as well as teaching and research.

Jill Benson has long worked closely with HCCSA, and we value her tireless and extensive efforts on our behalf. Well done, Jill!

Regarding the shared care expansion, interested GPs are encouraged to contact Elissa Mortimer on 8226 7309 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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