Dear Practitioner
Our Continence Program supplier Independence Australia have advised us of the following short term closure due to a system upgrade:
We wish to advise of our closure from: 5pm Thursday April 22 to 8am Wednesday April 28
What's new?
The Victorian Aids and Equipment Program (VA&EP) provides eligible people with subsidised Assistive Technology (AT) to enhance independence in their home, facilitate community participation and support families and carers in their role.
The State-wide Equipment Program (SWEP) is pleased to announce that Pedorthists can now access this funding for eligible consumers in recognition of their expertise in the provision of customised and medical grade footwear, shoe modifications and orthoses in line with other funding agencies. This arrangement commences on 21st December 2020.
Over recent years there has been an increase in the type of mattresses advertised to have pressure relief or pressure prevention properties. SWEP would like to confirm the type of mattresses we can provide a funding subsidy towards.
Under the Victorian Aids & Equipment Program Operational Policies, for all AT categories, SWEP does not fund what would be considered normal household items, including standard mattresses for standard beds. What we do fund is pressure reducing mattresses for hospital beds.
Dear Practitioner,
SWEP have been reviewing our Practitioner online Portal and have made some changes to the Practitioner home page. These changes will take effect on 8th August. The link to login, how to log in and the application process will all remain the same and none of your registration details will change.
The Application tab from the top right hand tool bar has moved and your applications can now be accessed by clicking on the tab on the front home page titled 'Complete and Manage Applications for Assistive Technology'.
Dear Practitioners
SWEP have been working with our Clinical Advisors to ensure we have measures in place to support our consumers and practitioners as we navigate the challenges presenting with the COVID virus.
Wherever possible, compliance to TSANZ Position Paper recommendations for home oxygen supply should be maintained. We do understand that some services are now being prioritized around COVID-19 and are implementing processes to ensure your patients are not at risk and that we ensure continuity of supply with oxygen equipment.
Dear Practitioners
SWEP have been working to ensure we have measures in place to support our consumers and Practitioners as we navigate the challenges presenting with the COVID pandemic.
Wherever possible, compliance with SWEP normal processes should be adhered to. SWEP recognises that many organisations will not be operating within business as usual practice.
SWEP are implementing processes to ensure our consumers are not compromised and that we ensure continuity of supply for continence items where we can.
Dear AT Practitioner
This communique includes information for you about:
This communique follows on from the information we provided to you in late November 2019. We
received valuable feedback at that time and wish to provide some further updates. We hope this makes
it clearer to understand what you can apply for and who is eligible for assistance through VA&EP. SWEP
is committed to providing equitable access to eligible Victorians across all equipment categories and
these changes have been made accordingly.
The Lymphoedema Practitioners Education Group of Victoria
Invites you to a Continuing Professional Development event.
SWEP is committed to ongoing quality and improvement, and we are pleased to advise that we have reviewed and updated The Standard for registration and credentialing with SWEP. We believe these changes will make it much easier for practitioners to understand what is required of them and to navigate the resources and application types.
This Standard has been released and is now published on the SWEP website https://swep.bhs.org.au
Dear AT Practitioner
We are writing to you to clarify Victorian Aids & Equipment Program (VA&EP) funding availability for the Orthoses category.
We have reviewed current practice in relation to our orthoses application management following the release of the VA&EP Operational Policies (July 2019) and the SWEP team's organisational restructure. In addition, we have consulted with professional associations and our Clinical Advisors.
The Statewide Equipment Program (SWEP) is committed to providing consumers with access to a range of assistive technology items that are evidence based and suitable for various environments and presenting scenarios
As per our communique released on the 25th of September, SWEP have partnered with the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) to provide a registration and credentialing service for all Occupational Therapists (OT's) currently providing services to the TAC.
As part of this service, the TAC have access to a SWEP 'geo-locator' tool that facilitates the matching of suitably qualified and skilled OT's with TAC consumers.
Change of Date - Independence Australia Closure 8th Nov - 12th Nov 2019
Further to our communique released on the 15th of October, SWEP have been notified that the upgrade of Independence Australias online web store has now been delayed until November.
Dear Continence Practitioners,
On the 29th August, I wrote to you advising that SWEP was unable to fund open tip / supra-plus catheters for urethral use if this was not part of the items' TGA approval or manufacturer guidelines.
Some of you have raised concerns about how this might impact your clients who have had a lot of success with these catheters being used urethrally.
