Patients want more time with their family doctors

ecent research conducted for the AMA by Essential Research found that 66 per cent of patients think that getting enough time with their family doctor is very important to their health.

The same research found that 62 per cent of patients visited their family doctor about one particular health issue at their last visit, while 30 per cent raised a range of different health issues.

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that a key element of health reform must be freeing up doctors from other constraints so they can maximise their time with patients.

“The family doctor is the first point of contact in the health system for most Australian families,” Dr Pesce said.

“When people get sick or injured or want advice about their health, they want to see a doctor.

“One of the easiest ways for the Government to give doctors more time to spend with patients is to remove the administrative red tape burden – the Government paperwork – from doctors and medical practices.

“Family doctors are required to spend up to nine hours a week on Government red tape.

“For every hour that a family doctor is tied up doing the paperwork, about four patients miss out on getting to see their family doctor.

“This is an enormous waste of time that could be better spent caring for patients.

“The red tape problem has been identified by bodies such as the Productivity Commission and the Regulation Review Taskforce, which have made red tape reduction recommendations to the Government.

“The AMA wants the major parties to respond to this issue in their health policies at this election. 

“Labor took a step in the right direction this week when they announced changes to the PBS authority prescription system – but much more needs to be done.

“There is evidence that health care outcomes are improved when family doctors have more time to spend with patients.  There is no evidence that this extra red tape that doctors have been burdened with has improved patient health outcomes.

“Patients want their family doctors to be doctors, not bureaucrats,” Dr Pesce said.

Red tape can be slashed by:

• Removing unnecessary requirements in Medicare chronic disease arrangements;
• Streamlining arrangements for GPs to refer patients to allied health services; and
• Simplifying Medicare provider number requirements, Centrelink forms, and paperwork and processes associated with various Government programs.

23 July 2010

CONTACT:            Geraldine Kurukchi                  02 6270 5467 / 0427 209 753

Follow the AMA on Twitter: http://twitter.com/amapresident