Leaky Business: Setting Your Patient Up for Success

‘Leaky Business: Setting Your Patient Up for Success’ provides GPs and primary care clinicians with practical approaches to managing pelvic floor disorders, urinary symptoms and prolapse, before and while patients are awaiting specialist urogynaecology assessment, with a focus on improving patient outcomes and first-appointment readiness.

Join us to discover how proactive management in primary care can set patients up for success and contribute to better urogynaecological outcomes.

Speakers include senior registrar Dr Annabel Sheehan, urogynaecological Fellow Dr Edward Ribbons and senior physiotherapist Jen Vardy, from the Mercy Hospital for Women.

Jen Vardy is a titled continence and women’s health physiotherapist and a senior clinician physiotherapist in the multidisciplinary P5 Pelvic Pain Clinic and Urogynae clinic at the Mercy Hospital for Women.

Dr Lore Schierlitz completed her training in obstetrics and gynaecology at the Mercy Hospital for Women, Melbourne. After working as a consultant for three years she gained further expertise in urogynaecology with completion of her fellowship training at Mercy Hospital for Women and Monash Medical Centre. This resulted in the ability to manage all aspects of complex bladder and pelvic floor dysfunction with comprehensive assessment, aiding conservative and surgical treatment.

Lore is actively involved in teaching medical students and doctors in training as well as research with numerous scientific publications and presentations at national and international meetings.  

In the past she was the Oceania representative on the advisory board of the International Urogynecology Association (IUGA), and worked as member in the urogynaecology subspecialty committee and as current examiner for urogynaecology for the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.  

Veronica Thompson is a continence and women’s health physiotherapist and works as a senior physiotherapist in the multidisciplinary Urogynae and Perineal clinics at the Mercy Hospital for Women.

Pelvic floor disorders, urinary symptoms, and pelvic organ prolapse are common presentations in general practice and can have a significant impact on patients’ quality of life. With increasing demand for specialist urogynaecology services, primary care clinicians play a critical role in identifying, assessing, and initiating management for patients before and while they await specialist review.

This practical webinar will equip GPs and primary care clinicians with evidence-based approaches to managing common urogynaecological conditions in the community setting. Participants will gain confidence in assessing urinary incontinence, overactive bladder, and pelvic organ prolapse, and learn how to implement conservative interventions that can improve symptoms, support patient wellbeing, and optimise outcomes prior to specialist assessment.

The session will also explore referral pathways, triage requirements, and prioritisation processes for urogynaecology services, helping clinicians prepare comprehensive referrals and ensure patients are well informed and ready for their first specialist appointment. Through practical guidance and real-world clinical insights, attendees will develop strategies to enhance patient care, reduce delays to treatment, and improve the quality of specialist consultations.

Learning outcomes:

• Identify and assess common urogynecology conditions suitable for management in general practice, including urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, and overactive bladder.
• Identify evidence-based management strategies and conservative interventions that can be initiated while patients are awaiting urogynecology specialist review.
• Describe referral pathways and prioritisation requirements for urogynecology services and prepare patients appropriately for their first specialist appointment.