Australian Medical Association

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that the AMA was pleased to hear Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, announce this morning that the Coalition’s aged care policy would be released ‘in the next few days’.

Dr Pesce said that aged care has so far been ignored in this election campaign

An AMA delegation of geriatricians, psychiatrists, general practitioners, and rehabilitation and palliative care specialists will today make a presentation to the Productivity Commission Inquiry into Caring for Older Australians in Canberra.

Medical care for older Australians was not included in the original Terms of Reference for the Inquiry, but the Commission agreed to the AMA’s request to discuss this important aspect of aged care.

AMA Vice President, Dr Steve Hambleton, said today that the medical care of the aged in our community and in residential aged care represents a continuing and growing challenge. 

The AMA today called for more Government support for doctors to provide medical care to frail, elderly residents in aged care facilities.

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said that he is not surprised by the alarming reports of poor care being delivered in some residential aged care facilities and that our senior citizens deserve better. These reports come at the same time as the results of a survey by Catholic Health Australia, which revealed that residents had poor access to medical care.

Dr Pesce said that the Government must ensure more doctors are encouraged and supported to provide medical care to older people living in residential aged care.

The AMA has already provided the Government with its proposals for access to medical care for residents in aged care.

“The health needs of older Australians are becoming more complex and numerous, so access to medical services in particular is crucial,” Dr Pesce said.

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that the terms of reference for the Productivity Commission’s public inquiry into aged care are missing one vital component - medical care of the elderly in residential aged care.

Dr Pesce said medical care is not specifically addressed in the terms of reference released today.

“This is a glaring oversight,” Dr Pesce said

“Elderly Australians should be entitled to get access to a general practitioner or other medical specialist when they move into residential aged care

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that the AMA welcomes the Government’s investment in many aspects of the aged care sector and advises that more funding will be needed to meet the growing and future demand for quality care for older Australians.

“To ensure aged care is sustainable, and that it is geared up to meet Australia’s future needs, the sector needs a further funding boost,” Dr Pesce said.

“An additional 2,500 aged care places is a very small increase on the current 228,000 operational aged care places. 

“Interest free loans to build new beds must be supported by proper ongoing funding so that the business model for aged care facilities is viable in the long term."

The Department of Health and Ageing report on the Operations of Aged Care Act for 2008-09 indicates that nobody is properly monitoring the provision of medical care to residents in nursing homes.

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that an unacceptable 26 per cent of complaints to the Complaints Investigation Scheme relate to concerns about the health and personal care of residents, including concerns about their clinical care.

Dr Pesce said these findings concur with the AMA’s ongoing analysis of the reports on sanctioned nursing homes, which shows that there are inadequate systems in place to provide and monitor the medical care of residents.

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.