Australian Medical Association

The Medical Board of Australia, as part of incoming national registration arrangements, will be establishing a register of specialists. This register will include GPs.

The AMA has made a submission to the Medical Board of Australia recommending that when it formulates the criteria for inclusion on the new specialist register, it should put in place transitional arrangements to ensure that vocationally registered GPs are included on the register when it is first established. This would be in addition to Fellows of the relevant College.

The Government, as part of the 2007 Election Campaign, made a commitment to reform and simplify the MBS for GPs.  From 1 May 2010, GPs will receive a higher Medicare rebate for spending more time with their patients.  For further information on the simplification and to view the Government's changes to MBS GP items please click here.

National Minimum Terms and Conditions for GP Registrars for 2010

Boosting the number of practice nurses who work with GPs would help improve patient access to care, the AMA said today.

AMA Federal President, Dr Andrew Pesce, today used GP Week to renew calls for the Government to increase support for nurses who work in general practices.

A recent report funded by the Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute found practice nurses helped take pressure off GPs and increased access to care for patients.

The growing number of Australians at risk of serious chronic diseases from obesity, smoking and excess alcohol use is a major health challenge facing Australia. This AMA Policy Brief, Preventing Obesity, Smoking and Excess Alcohol Use, summarises some key measures that the AMA believes should be given priority in a National Preventative Health Strategy, including support for the preventative role of doctors and implementation of a number of targeted community-level measures.

GP groups and Aboriginal community controlled health services from around the country have called on the Government to engage quickly with general practices and Aboriginal community controlled health services in preparation for the roll-out of a swine flu vaccine.

The AMA has made a submission to the Department of Health and Ageing in response to the report released by DoHA on the outcomes of the Point of Care Testing (PoCT) trial in general practice.

Caring for the frail elderly living in residential aged care requires doctors to spend a significant amount of time managing and organising the ongoing care of their patient. This includes discussing the patient's care needs with the nursing staff, maintaining medication charts, completing various forms, discussing care and treatment with the patient's relatives, liaising with pharmacies regarding prescriptions, and taking after hours telephone calls from nursing staff. There are no Medicare rebates payable for this work.

For many doctors, having made the investment in their surgeries, it is not financially viable to visit patients living in residential aged care, particularly when they have a waiting room full of patients.

The AMA's proposal for additional funding for access to medical services for residents of aged care facilities addresses this by recommending that the Australian Government provides specific funding to approved residential aged care providers to allow them to enter into service agreements with medical practitioners to provide ongoing medical care to residents in a particular facility.

Voluntary agreements between doctors and approved providers could be negotiated on a case-by-case basis and would complement Medicare rebates for medical services provided to residents of aged care facilities.

GP Network News Issue 09, Number 10 - 24 April 2009: AMA: Importance of health must be reflected in budget, AMA provides feedback on the NHHRC’s interim report, Small business and general business tax bonus and Survey reveals GPs’ attitudes to their working lives.

GP Network News Issue 09, Number 9 - 17 April 2009: Government set to strip privacy protection from patient records; GPs call for health stimulus;  AMA provides input to review of rural health programs; and New Veterans’ MATES website.