Medical indemnity forcing surgeons out of the medical workforce
AMA President, Dr Bill Glasson, said today that the AMA shares the concerns of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) that huge medical indemnity premiums are forcing many surgeons to consider their futures in medical practice.
Dr Glasson said indemnity is hitting all surgeons, not just the higher-risk specialties of neurosurgery, obstetrics and orthopaedics.
"The combined burden of medical indemnity and practice costs is eating away the livelihoods of many surgeons," Dr Glasson said.
"A RACS survey shows that many are choosing to retire early, which will further compound Australia's medical workforce shortage.
"There are too few GPs and soon there will be too few surgeons to serve the needs of patients.
"Australia cannot afford to lose the skills of its most senior surgeons because of medical indemnity, nor can it afford to have young surgeons turn away from the profession because of outrageously high insurance premiums.
"The imposition of the IBNR levy will make things even worse."
The RACS survey found that 25 per cent of surgeons over 55 will soon retire or have retired from private practice in the last six months. A further 20 per cent will retire from public practice by the end of the year.
Dr Glasson said he will raise these concerns and will reiterate the AMA's opposition to the IBNR levy when he meets with the Prime Minister next week.
CONTACT: John Flannery (02) 6270 5477 / (0419) 494 761
Judith Tokley (02) 6270 5471 / (0408) 824 306