Government slurs on doctors must stop: Australian Medicine

In the latest issue of Australian Medicine, the AMA tells the Health Minister to stop attacking GPs to justify Budget cuts, and a major report finds cost-efficient GPs are crucial to containing costs.

AMA President, Professor Brian Owler, writes that GPs deserve praise, not abuse, especially from the Government. He says that the Government appears to have adopted a strategy of demonising GPs to sell its policies, especially the MBS Review. The latest report from the Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health (BEACH) study backs AMA warnings that the Government’s attack on primary health care funding is misguided, and shows that GPs are playing a vital role in holding health costs down and caring for an increasing number of ageing Australians with multiple and complex health problems.