The National Conference of the Austalian Medical Association today called on the Federal Government to work with the peak medical body to improve access to GP services for all Australians.

AMA President, Dr Rosanna Capolingua, said that funding cuts to General Practice in the recent Federal Budget were disappointing and undermined the Government's commitment to stronger primary health care services.

"The AMA believes that the Government's centrepiece GP Super Clinics policy may only benefit a limited number of Australians and, in fact, do damage to many existing general practices that currently provide patient care.

"The Conference has called on the Government to move beyond its restrictive policy framework and use the GP Super Clinic funding to develop measures to enhance GP services across the country.

"Super Clinic money can be invested in existing practices - effectively improving access to services," she said.

If Government is serious about supporting primary care, then it must:

• Significantly expand training places in general practice;
• Restructure the Medicare Benefits Schedule - allowing GPs to focus on preventative care and the effective management of chronic disease, as well as manage acute presentations;
• Create initiatives to support the use of practice nurses, for and on behalf of GPs;
• Appropriately index patient rebates to keep pace with the rising costs of service delivery;
• Support the extension of IT infrastructure across health service delivery to improve coordination of patient care; and
• Reduce red tape and unnecessary compliance costs.

The Conference acknowledged that the Government is trying to improve the delivery of primary health care services by introducing GP Super Clinics. However, the Conference did not give unqualified endorsement to the concept.

The AMA believes that:

• GP Super Clinics should only be located in areas where there are identified gaps in the delivery of local health services and clear evidence of significant GP shortage; and
• GP Super Clinic funding should be directed towards supporting existing practices to improve infrastructure and expand services.

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