AMA launches plan to address critical problems facing general practice

This week the AMA released a seven-point plan to address the critical problems facing general practice in a report titled AMA’s Plan to Improve Access to GPs. 

AMA President Professor Steve Robson said the AMA’s plan to improve access to GPs would create a modern Medicare that delivers patients more time, more care, and more health. 

“Our plan — part of the AMA’s Plan to Modernise Medicare campaign — outlines practical and implementable solutions to help our GPs who are under enormous pressure at the moment,” Professor Robson said.  

The plan was released ahead of an RACGP crisis summit to be held in Canberra this week which considered practical steps to relieve growing stresses and strains on GPs. 

The plan calls for: 

• The introduction of voluntary patient enrolment so patients can register with their trusted general practice or “medical home”, to bolster coordinated, multidisciplinary, and patient-centred care 

• Supporting general practice to deliver more care after hours 

• Expanding the number of nurses and allied health services available in general practices 

• Supporting GPs to provide care to aged-care residents 

• Supporting GPs to provide evidence-based wound care to those patients with chronic wounds 

• Changing the GP training program to make general practice more appealing to the next generation of doctors 

• Supporting GPs to spend more time with patients and improve the indexation of Medicare to reflect the rising costs of providing high-quality medical care and running a medical practice. 

You can read the full AMA’s Plan to Improve Access to GPs here.