Continuity of patient care - best part about being a GP: AMA poll
GPs say the best part about being a family doctor is being able to provide continuity of care for patients.
An AMA Family Doctor Week poll asked 900 Australian GPs to rate six aspects of their job - working hours, remuneration, their role in the local community, the variety of their work, continuity of care, and being the first point of contact for patients.
Seventy per cent of respondents nominated their capacity to provide 'good continuity of patient care' as one of the top two aspects of being a GP in their local community. Fifty-nine per cent of respondents said it was the variety of clinical work.
Income levels were considered by many to be below what they should be, and working conditions were cited as one of the more unpleasant aspects of the profession.
GPs were also asked if they felt valued by their patients and by the Federal Government. More than 70% of respondents said they felt significantly valued by their patients, while 81% said they were not valued enough by the Federal Government.
AMA Council of General Practice Chairman, Dr David Rivett, said the survey had shown that, despite growing pressures, GPs were overwhelmingly committed to their patients.
"GPs will always put their patients first - despite the screws being tightened. This is also reflected in the 70% of survey respondents who said the bulk of their patients had stayed with them for more than five or 10 years,"
Dr Rivett said.
"GPs are increasingly under pressure to throw away professional independence for the 'rewards' - financial and administrative - of the new medical corporations.
"Private health funds are pressuring GPs to refer patients to only no-gap specialists, regardless of their clinical expertise. And the Federal Government continues to ignore calls for a fairer remuneration for GPs, despite a recent survey* showing that the average doctor is consulting 123 patients a week, often for long hours at less than $30 an hour (before tax)," Dr Rivett said.
The AMA Family Doctor Week poll, conducted in the last week of June 2001, surveyed a random sample of 900 practising GPs, and received 455 responses.
*AMA internal workforce survey - 2001
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CONTACT: David Rivett (02) 4471 5870
Sarah Bucknell (02) 6270 5472 (0419) 440 076