AMA responds to major health reform announcement

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said on Wednesday that the public hospitals policy unveiled by the Prime Minister is major reform that must be taken seriously and given due consideration by the states and the health sector because Australia needs a system that will give better access to quality health services for its population into the future.

Dr Pesce said the policy is a credible response to the problems and deficiencies in the public hospital system and is evidence that there has been considerable consultation with patients and with doctors. The AMA is pleased that the Government has taken on board many elements of the AMA’s Priority Investment Plan for Australia’s Health System in developing the policy.

The Government has flagged that it will announce details of its primary care reform package soon.

Dr Pesce and AMA Vice President, Dr Steve Hambleton, have been involved in extensive discussions with the Government on primary care reform, making it clear that the key plank of primary care reform must be greater support for general practice. These discussions have included several meetings with the Minister for Health and Ageing and the Prime Minister. Chair of the AMA Council of General Practice (AMACGP), Dr Rod Pearce, was also on the reference group that assisted the development of the Government’s Draft National Primary Care Strategy.

The AMA plan for primary health care reform, developed with significant input from the AMACGP, calls for:

• infrastructure funding to enable existing general practices to deliver multi-disciplinary care and to teach and train the next generation of GPs,
• streamlined arrangements for GPs to provide access to allied health and other support services for patients with chronic and complex disease,
• further review and simplification of the MBS – including appropriate indexation of patient rebates,
• additional prevocational and vocational GP training places and improved funding to support teaching in general practice,
• enhanced support for GP practice nurses and allied health professionals working for and on behalf of GPs,
• support for point-of-care testing and GP-referred MRI,
• funding to provide better access to medical services for patients in residential aged care facilities, and
• changes to enable the co-location of pharmacies within, adjacent to, or in close proximity to a general practice – under the ownership of the doctor.

The AMA has also stressed that primary care reform must not result in more red tape in general practice or funding being absorbed by more bureaucracy. 

The transcript from Dr Pesce’s doorstop press conference on the Government’s health funding announcement is available here.

National clinical practice guidelines portal

The National Health and Medical Research Council's National Institute of Clinical Studies has launched an online resource that provides links to current Australian clinical practice guidelines developed by governments, professional colleges, specialty societies and non-government agencies. The portal and register is available at www.clinicalguidelines.gov.au.