Human Swine flu - What to do

Members will be aware of the possibility of patients infected with the new influenza strain - H1N1 Influenza 09 (human swine influenza) - attending the surgery, and so this update offers advice on the management of such cases.

More people in Victoria have tested positive to H1N1 Influenza 09. The Federal Government has raised Australia's pandemic alert level to 'contain'. This move to 'contain' recognises that Australia has a small number of swine flu cases and has experienced human-to-human transmission. The aim of this phase is to contain the spread of the virus within Australia. It is important to remember that while the official alert level has been raised, there are still only a small number of confirmed cases in Australia, and the symptoms people are experiencing are relatively mild.

Given the rapidly changing nature of the incident, members should be checking the ADA Inc website and the Commonwealth Government's Health Emergency website regularly for the latest information.

For information about developments in Victoria, including what to do with patients, how to protect staff and yourself, and how to get help, members are advised to monitor these two pages on the Department of Human Services website –

Infectious Diseases – Epidemiology and Surveillance and

Infectious Diseases Epidemiology and Surveillance.

Members should also report any suspected cases immediately by phone to the Communicable Disease Prevention & Control Unit on 1300 651 160 or after hours through the paging service 1300 790 733.

DPBV makes ADA Infection Control Guidelines mandatory

The Dental Practice Board of Victoria has made the Australian Dental Association Inc’s publication ADA Guidelines for Infection Control a mandatory resource.

As a result, the Board has updated its Code of Practice on Infection Control and accompanying information sheet to reflect the Guidelines.

The Board will post a copy of the ADA Guidelines for Infection Control to all registered dentists next month, in time for the ruling to take effect from 1 July. In the meantime, members can gain access to a soft copy by logging into the members only area of the ADA Inc website and selecting the option from the publications page.

More chairs for Bendigo dental school

An extra 10 dental chairs will be installed at La Trobe University’s dental school in Bendigo following last night’s Federal Budget. The cost of the chairs is included in the $59.6 million provided to expand the university’s Rural Health School.

This is on top of the State Government’s payment for the first 10 chairs at the school. The Budget also allocated $64.1 million towards the university establishing an Institute of Molecular Sciences in Melbourne.

La Trobe’s Vice Chancellor Professor Paul Johnson said the Rural Health School will play a critical part in improving health services practice and service delivery in northern Victoria.

The Budget also allocated $104 million for an Oral Health Centre in Brisbane. The centre will combine research, education and oral cancer disagnosis and other services while treating about 17,000 patients each year.

Caring for oral health in Australian residential care

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has published a new report called Caring for oral health in Australian residential care.

They note that "as the Australian population ages and more older Australians retain their natural teeth, more people living in residential aged care are developing complex oral disease and dental problems. This report shows that carers play a crucial role in helping maintain the oral health of older adults in residential aged care, including the identification and referral needed for dental care, by investigating 21 aged care facilities in three states. Three aspects of best practice were pursued: assisting the development of policies and procedures; training carers to use an oral health assessment called the Oral Health Assessment Tool (OHAT) and then evaluating the reliability and validity of carers' use of the OHAT; and applying an evidence-based oral health protocol for carers of dependent older adults. The OHAT was evaluated as being a reliable and valid screening tool for use among residents, including those with cognitive impairments. "

New national registration and accreditation scheme

The Australian Health Workforce Ministerial Council has outlined how the new National Registration and Accreditation Scheme for the Health Professions will work.

Following an extensive consultation process, the Ministerial Council decided last Friday that a number of changes had to be made to the original proposals, particularly in areas of accreditation, the role of state bodies and complaints handling.

Accreditation will be independent of governments with standards being developed by the independent accrediting body or committee of the board. This body will recommend to the board the courses and training programs it has accredited and that it considers to have met the requirements for registration.

Other decisions included:

• Existing accrediting bodies such as the Australian Dental Council are expected to continue.
• Continuing professional development will be a requirement for registration. Details of requirements for each profession will be determined by the relevant national board.
• Practitioners and employers will have to report a registrant who is placing the public at risk.
• Criminal history and identify checks will apply.
• Help will be given to people who wish to make a complaint. This will not affect the services provided by health complaints commissions.
• There will be a flexible model for administering arrangements for complaints. Legislation will cover investigations and prosecutions along with definitions of offences and contraventions and outcomes.
• Students will be registered, with boards being able to act on impairment matters or where there is a conviction which may impact on public safety.
• The Ministerial Council will appoint national boards with practitioners making up at least half, but not more than two-thirds. National boards will contain at least one practitioner from the five larger States and one other practitioner will come from Tasmania and the two Territories.
• State and Territory boards will oversee registration and complaints processes.
• National boards will consider appointments for registration from practitioners seeking to work in a location or position that has been declared an area of need.
• The national office of the new Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency will be in Melbourne.
• These decisions will be included in the exposure draft of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Bill 2009, which will be released later this year for further public consultations.

Improving Treatment Management – The SAC Way

There’s more to the SAC classification system than meets the eye - so don’t be deceived by the title! Come along and find out how you can benefit from this very useful tool when treating patients.

As a practitioner, classifying patient cases is a daily routine that many believe “comes naturally”. Most times, the cases would be straightforward. Or are they? From time to time there are other contributing factors that could increase your patient’s risk and therefore upgrade a “straightforward” case to become an “advanced” procedure. At what point would you classify a case as “complex”?

Don’t miss the opportunity to have all your questions answered and other helpful hints provided at the upcoming seminar “The SAC Classification System for your Dentistry” on Friday, 5 June at the Melbourne Convention Centre. Hear some of the most respected speakers share their cases and insights in their respective fields with you.

So what is SAC?
The Straightforward Advanced Complex (SAC) classification system was first used by the International Team of Implantology (ITI) in case selection and execution of implant dentistry.

The concept is based on the need to provide clinicians with the tool for readily assessing the degree of complexity, and hence the clinical experience and expertise required to undertake the treatment.

At this seminar, the SAC concept is applied to all branches of dentistry. Whether you are a general practitioner or a specialist, this concept helps you:
- identify the degree of difficulty of a case
- identify the degree of difficulty of treatment options
- identify the risk of complications
- indicate the skill level required to treat your patient.

Ultimately, the SAC concept helps you facilitate a predictable outcome of treatment with the least risk to your patient. To register for this seminar, you can download a copy of the registration form here or from the CPD Calendar.

Submissions to Senate Inquiry re National Registration Scheme

Members interested in reviewing the submssions made by various stakeholders to the Senate Community Affairs Committee Inquiry into the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme for Doctors and other health workers can do so here.

We particularly recommend the submission made by the Dental Board of South Australia (Submission 21) for its elegant economy and sharp observations.

The ADAVB submission and various attachments appear as Submission 37.

New address for ADA Inc.

The Australian Dental Association's Federal office has a new address effective 11 May 2009:
14-16 Chandos Street ST LEONARDS NSW 2065

The contact details remain the same: Phone (02) 9902 4412, Fax (02) 9906 4917, PO Box 520 ST LEONARDS NSW 2065

As Friday 8 May is moving day, their office will be closed for the day, and will reopen at the new address next week.

ADA Graduate Student Scholarships

The ADA Inc. has announced that applications are open for their 2009 Graduate Student Scholarships of $4,000.00 each, one Scholarship being available to each Dental School.

The School may choose to nominate one person or several recipients to share the Scholarship.

For further information refer to Graduate Student Scholarship.pdf

Newspapers wrong on sale of Mathoura Rd. property

Twice in a month Melbourne’s two daily newspapers have reported that the ADAVB sold its former office in Mathoura Rd., Toorak, last month for less than an earlier offer. This is entirely incorrect - the Branch sold the property in November 2007 at the top end of the market.

The Herald Sun made the erroneous claim several weeks ago and The Sunday Age yesterday compounded the mistake.

The Herald Sun corrected the error and the ADAVB has asked for a ‘We were wrong’ statement following the Sunday Age story.

The facts are:

• The ADAVB sold its property in November 2007 before the market downturn
• The property was sold to Walton Construction Pty Ltd for $3.8 million
• The auction held in April 2008, at which the property was passed in, was conducted on behalf of Walton.

The ADAVB has occupied its new headquarters at Level 3, 10 Yarra St since late March 2008. Members should not be concerned about the finances of the Branch as the ADAVB owns its South Yarra property outright and is debt free.

Workforce reforms will threaten quality of healthcare - ADAVB tells Senate inquiry

The quality of healthcare services will be threatened by radical workforce reforms proposed by the National Health Workforce Taskforce (NHWT), the ADAVB said this week in a submission to a Senate Inquiry.

The Inquiry is into the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme for Doctors, Dentists and other health workers. ADAVB made the submission from a State perspective while ADA Inc., in a separate submission, gave a national perspective.

In welcoming the establishment of a single national register of dental practitioners, and a national dental board responsible for regulating all dental service providers consistently across the nation, ADAVB stated that the Branch’s chief concern is evidence that the changes are being used to advance perceived ideologically driven workforce reform agendas.

The submission contends that if these workforce reforms are implemented, then there will be a massive increase in the number and proportion of treatment failures and adverse events, and that:
· Arguments that the entire health care system needs to shift to a ‘models of care’ approach are wrong. The argument only really applies in large institutions like hospitals and nursing homes, chiefly in relation to medical services.
· The creation of a universal healthcare worker with only a core set of competencies and no specialised skill to be able to deal with more complex matters within a field of professional service will not solve the problem of health workforce shortages.
· The so-called “professional silos” are actually specialised ‘bodies of knowledge’ which should not be dismantled.

ADAVB said that these proposals were “dangerous and a most serious threat to public health and safety. Regrettably, we have formed the view that these proposals lie at the heart of the workforce reform program being implemented in conjunction with the national registration and accreditation scheme”.

Push for person-controlled electronic health records

The National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission (NHHRC) on 30 April outlined its support for person-controlled electronic health records for Australians.

In a supplementary paper to its Interim Report, the Commission recommends:

• By 2012 every Australian should be able to have a personal electronic health record that will at all times be owned and controlled by that person;
• The Commonwealth Government must legislate to ensure the privacy of a person’s electronic health data, while enabling secure access to the data by the person’s authorised health providers;
• The Government must introduce unique personal identifiers for health care by 1 July next year;
• The Government must develop and implement an appropriate national social marketing strategy to inform consumers and health professions about the significant benefits and safeguards of the proposed e-health approach; and,
• The Government must mandate that the payment of public and private benefits for all health and aged care services be dependent upon the provision of data to patients, their authorised carers, and their authorised health providers, in a format that can be integrated into a personal electronic health record.

To read the paper, Person-controlled Electronic Health Records click here. Feedback can be sent to talkhealth@nhhrc.org.au but must be received by next Friday – 8 May.

Small CPI increase

Australia’s Consumer Price Index rose 0.1% for the March quarter. From a year earlier, prices nationally were up 2.5% and in Melbourne 2.1% - an increase of 0.2% for the quarter. Dental services increased 1.8% during the quarter.