Government Red Tape Robbing Patients of Doctor Time

Dr Haikerwal said there are GP shortages in areas of health need and it is already difficult for patients to get to see their doctor of choice when they need them without red tape eating into even more valuable consultation time.

The AMA and other medical groups met with Health officials in Canberra yesterday to discuss the effects of red tape associated with Government programs on general practice. A joint task force was formed at the meeting.

"It is vital that the task force sets about eliminating the red tape and not increasing or perpetuating it," Dr Haikerwal said.

"Recent polls by the AMA and others have placed question marks over the national effectiveness of many Commonwealth programs targeted at specific diseases or ailments.

"The philosophical problem the AMA has with these programs is that they infer that GPs would otherwise be incapable of diagnosing and treating these conditions.

"The economic problem we have is that compliance with the programs is costly and time consuming as proved by the Productivity Commission, which recently put the red tape cost per doctor at more than $13,000 a year.

"The commonsense problem we have is that complying with these programs means less time that a GP can spend with their patients.

"At a time of medical workforce shortage, every minute of consultation time with patients is vital.

"It is crazy that there are bonuses payable to doctors if a patient has one illness or condition and not another set of illnesses.

"The money would be better spent increasing the patients' Medicare patient rebates so all patients benefit from better access and lower out-of-pocket expenses.

"We can only hope the task force will come to the same conclusion and action will follow," Dr Haikerwal said.

CONTACT:
John Flannery (02) 6270 5477 / (0419) 494 761
Judith Tokley (02) 6270 5471 / (0408) 824 306