Australian Medical Association

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that urgent planning and investment is needed to meet the health and care needs of an ageing and growing Australian population.

“Access to medical care for older Australians in residential aged care today is limited,” Dr Pesce said.

“The health needs of older Australians are becoming more complex and numerous, so access to general practice services in particular is crucial.

“The AMA wants access to ongoing medical care to be a specific accreditation standard for aged care providers.

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.

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'srelatives, 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.

Ensuring aged care residents have access to medical care is just as important as making sure nursing homes are equipped to deal with fires or other emergencies, the AMA said today.

Under new rules, all nursing homes applying for Federal Government-funded aged care places will be required to demonstrate that they are equipped to deal with disaster threats such as bushfires and floods.

AMA President, Dr Rosanna Capolingua, said aged care facilities must also be required to ensure residents have ongoing access to medical care.

Australia’s aged care homes urgently need more qualified nurses to provide residents with the care they deserve, the AMA said today.

The AMA has been consistently calling for a minimum ratio of registered nurses to residents be made an aged care Accreditation standard.

“It is vital that more nurses are employed in aged care homes to provide elderly people with the care that they need and deserve,” AMA President, Dr Rosanna Capolingua, said.

Residents of aged care facilities are missing out on high-quality medical care, which other Australians enjoy, because of a lack of access to doctors and a shortage of registered nurses, the AMA said today.

In aged care facilities sanctioned over the past year by the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency – for which reports are available - residents were found to be in poor medical condition.

Dr Peter Ford, chair of the AMA Committee for Healthy Ageing, made a plea for the Federal Government to put in place a specific Accreditation standard for aged care homes to ensure their residents have ongoing access to medical care.

The AMA has called for better coordination across the medical profession and other health providers in alerting patients to the early signs of osteoporosis.

“The release of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report Arthritis and Osteoporosis in Australia (2008) is a reminder that we need to ensure we have sound arrangements for the long-term management of osteoporosis,” AMA President, Dr Rosanna Capolingua, said.

A message from the Chair, AMA Committee on Care of Older People

AMA Position Statement: The Role of the Medical Practitioner in Advance Care Planning - 2006

AMA Position Statement: Restraint in the Care of Older People - 2001