AMA launches plan to address critical problems facing general practice

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 summit to be held in Canberra tomorrow which will consider practical steps to relieve growing stresses and strains on GPs, who see 85 per cent of patients accessing medical help each year.

“GPs are at the very heart of our healthcare system and are doing a great job under immense pressure and very difficult circumstances,” Professor Robson said.

“But it’s clear Australians are finding it more difficult to access a GP because of growing patient demand, increased doctor burnout from the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath, and increasing reports of general practices facing financial and sustainability issues.

“Australia’s growing and ageing population is increasingly developing more complex healthcare needs, GPs need urgent action to give them the support they desperately need to deliver affordable and accessible healthcare to their patients.”
The plan involves supporting patients with chronic diseases to be able to spend more time with their GP, providing comprehensive joined-up patient care under one roof and making GP training more attractive.

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.

“We acknowledge the $750 million investment in primary care this government is making through the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce. But the federal health minister only recently acknowledged how critical this issue has become. Now is the time to act and invest and change the primary health care system to ensure it can meet patients’ needs.”

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