As healthcare professionals we are very lucky to have an amazing resource such as the eTG (electronic therapeutics guide) which has pretty much everything we need to look after patients. In addition, the local health networks set up new GPs with the local HealthPathways for their region of practice.
If you are new to a practice I would highly recommend sifting through the HealthPathways for the common presentations as they have contact details of the local services that you can offer patients such as child protection service contact details.
I often open the page with a medical condition as I make a diagnosis (e.g. iron deficiency anaemia) to ensure that I have asked all the important questions and then follow the recommended management plan. This ensures that you provide your patient the best quality of care and helps you learn from each case as you go along.
While the eTG and HealthPathways cover most of the main presentations to general practice, it is important to know about the other guidelines with more detailed management plans and targets for care for patients.
RACGP issued guidelines There are several guidelines from the RACGP (see article: How to start learning for new GPs- using the RACGP guidelines) that describe the standard of care expected in general practice and resources that you can utilise to do this.
These guidelines often have a summary section which can be printed off and kept in your clinic as a quick reference guide, and often comprise of flow charts making them easy to follow. You can find the complete list at: https://www.racgp.org.au/clinical-resources/clinical-guidelines/key-racgp-guidelines/view-all-racgp-guidelines.
Relevant national guidelines
The professional medical colleges have a set of guidelines for their specialty but most of them are aimed for use by the specialist teams. I have listed guidelines that GPs need to know about and are likely to use in their daily clinical practice that is not issued by the RACGP.
Having said this, feel free to read about the secondary care guidelines for your own interest and to understand the management plans made by specialist doctors as your patients will often ask questions about this!
The Australian Immunisation Handbook: The Australian Immunisation Handbook (health.gov.au)
UK medical eligibility criteria for contraceptive use (UKMEC): UK Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use (UKMEC) - Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare (fsrh.org)
Australian STI guidelines: Home - Australian STI Management Guidelines
International evidence based guideline for the assessment and management of polycystic ovarian syndrome 2018: Guideline - Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation (MCHRI)
Clinical practice guidelines for the management of women who report decreased fetal movements: Guidelines | PSANZ
Pregnancy care guidelines: Pregnancy Care Guidelines and related documents | Australian Government Department of Health
Cancer Australia Guidelines (multiple useful guidelines): Cancer Australia Guidelines | Cancer Australia
Management of CKD in general practice: Chronic Kidney Disease Management in Primary Care
Australian Guidelines for the prevention ad treatment of acute stress disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder and complex PTSD: Australian PTSD Guidelines | July 2020 | Phoenix Australia
Clinical guideline for the diagnosis and management of work-related health conditions in general practice: Clinical guidelines - Department of General Practice (monash.edu)
National guideline for the assessment and diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorders (you need to create a free account to access the resources): National Guideline for Assessment and Diagnosis of Autism (autismcrc.com.au)
Australian Asthma handbook: Australian Asthma Handbook
Chronic suppurative lung disease and bronchiectasis in adults and children in Australia and New Zealand: Summary (thoracic.org.au)
Australia and New Zealand guidelines for the management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Full COPD-X Guidelines | COPD-X (copdx.org.au)
Clinical practice guidelines and principles of care for people with dementia: Clinical guidelines for dementia - Cognitive Decline Partnership Centre (sydney.edu.au)
Clinical guidelines for stroke management: InformMe - Clinical Guidelines for Stroke Management
If you know of any other useful resources that we can add to the list please contact the Doctorology team at doctorology.podcast@gmail.com.
תגובות