The Royal Australian College of GPs (RACGP) has warmly welcomed the federal Government committing $2.2 billion to strengthen Medicare.
It comes following National Cabinet meeting today to discuss Australia's strained health system and how to ease pressure on our hospitals. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced several measures including a new funding program for GP clinics to work after-hours as well as potential changes to visa eligibility rules for foreign doctors.
RACGP President Dr Nicole Higgins said several of the measures announced today including more support for after-hours care were just what the doctor ordered.
"Greater support for general practice is the key to relieving the strain on our entire health system," she said.
"This new funding program enabling practices to open for longer hours will mean fewer people turning up in crowded emergency departments seeking help for health concerns that could and should have been managed by a GP. The last thing we want is people turning up again and again to hospital emergency departments without their underlying conditions being properly addressed and today's announcement will help remedy that.
"We also welcome substantial increases to the Workforce Incentive Program, which will enable general practice to grow existing multidisciplinary care teams within general practice. This is essential in GPs delivering complex chronic disease care and this boost, in addition to the general practice infrastructure grants announced last week, really highlights the vital role GPs and practice teams play in communities nation-wide. The college also supports greater investment in digital health to improve health outcomes, we have made massive inroads on this front in recent years and the sky is the limit."
The RACGP President urged greater action on visa processing times for international medical graduates.
"We must cut red tape holding back more foreign doctors from working in Australia," she said.
"National Cabinet has received an interim review from Ms Robin Kruk AO into how we can streamline the recruitment process and ease the bureaucratic headache for practices. I urge the Government in the strongest possible terms to make this an urgent priority.
"It's particularly important for rural and remote areas, which rely disproportionately on foreign doctors. Go to any rural or remote practice and ask a GP or practice manager how difficult it can be to bring in a GP from overseas and get them set up to actually start working. It can take up to two years and this time consuming process leaves many practices desperately short of GPs with nowhere else to turn."
Dr Higgins warned, however, that expanding the scope of pharmacy must be approached with caution.
"Moves such as expanding the role of pharmacists delivering vaccines must be approached warily," she said.
"Let me be 100% clear - this is not about us versus them. GPs and practice teams absolutely value the vital role that pharmacists perform in communities across Australia. The RACGP is right behind GPs working hand in glove with a range of allied health professionals including pharmacists, and we believe that they should be supported within general practice. It is positive that the Government has recognised that only general practice has the right systems in place for delivering vaccines to children five and under.
"The RACGP is supportive of increased access to opioid dependency therapy through pharmacy. We must do more to expand access to these treatments and, as has been reported today, it isn't good enough that medications on the opiate treatment program require patients to pay a private pharmacy dispensing fee of between $5 to $15 a day. Many people simply can't afford these sums and go without, so that is something that government must address. People with opioid dependency need help to get their lives on track and we must remove all roadblocks stopping them from doing so."
Dr Higgins said that the RACGP cautiously welcomes the 'My Medicare' announcement.
"Voluntary patient registration, whereby patients sign up to a practice that receives extra funding to co-ordinate long-term care, could well prove particularly valuable for older patients and those with multiple chronic conditions," she said.
"This is targeted at 'frequent flyer' high-risk patients who are often in and out of hospital with poorly managed conditions. The devil is in the detail, and we will work with government on a suitable model. It's also great news to learn of additional funding for GPs in residential aged care as part of 'My Medicare' and we look forward to finding out more."
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