GPs THE HEART OF PRIMARY CARE
Fully trained medical practitioners must remain at the heart of any reformed primary care system, AMA President, Dr Rosanna Capolingua, said this week. GPs facilitate access to the most appropriate specialist or allied health provider for each individual patient, and coordinate that care. She agreed with Health Minister Nicola Roxon’s assertion that GPs were essential care coordinators and team leaders in primary health care.
The Australia’s Health 2008 report released this week showed that the overall supply of GPs decreased by nine per cent between 1997 and 2005. Dr Capolingua said that the report highlighted the failure of successive governments to plan for the primary care needs of the Australian community. The good news is that Australia is doubling the number of medical school graduates but Dr Capolingua says the focus now needs to be on training those graduates and encouraging many of them to become GPs.
The Federal Budget in May was an opportunity for the Government to expand programs to give medical students an experience of general practice. Dr Capolingua said it was a missed opportunity to expand pre-vocational GP training places for junior doctors, and to set out a plan to boost GP vocational training numbers. Another missed opportunity was an expansion of funding for general practice nurses. Dr Capolingua said that practice nurses could be employed in every general practice in the country. “We agree with the Minister that we have to effectively use the skills and competency of general practice to look after patients. Expanding the use of practice nurses is one way to help that happen.”
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TIME FOR AGED CARE TO COME OUT OF THE ‘POLICY INERTIA ZONE’
Last weekend the AMA urged the Australian Government to address the policy inertia that continued to restrict medical services for the care of sick and frail residents of aged care homes. Dr Capolingua warned that GP services to residents in aged care homes were under growing pressure and that GPs were continually frustrated by the barriers that prevented constant medical care from being delivered to residents of aged care homes.
Dr Capolingua said that we need to see policies that will effectively bring medical care to frail and sick residents in a timely and suitable manner. “Older Australians should continue to have access to a range of quality medical services - as it’s a time in their lives when they need them most.” Find out more here.
AMA MEETS WITH DOHA ON LEVEL C AND D CONSULTATION ITEMS
The AMA met with the Department of Health and Ageing on 25 June to discuss the Professional Services Review’s interpretation of Level C items and its suggestion that changes to the Level C and D items might be necessary. The Department advised it was meeting with the PSR and Medicare Australia to discuss how a ‘shopping list’ of medical complaints related to complexity. It would be examining MBS statistics to determine if there was problem. The AMA expects the Department will respond to our concerns. The AMA’s position is that GPs are practising appropriately.
AMA MEETS WITH MINISTER’S OFFICE ON GP MRI
The AMA met with Minister for Health and Ageing’s office on 27 June to discuss GP MRI referrals. We expressed our preference for an indications-driven model so GPs would not be tied up with unnecessary red tape and the timely progression of the GP MRI referral. The AMA also discussed with the Minister’s Office our support for the joint development of guidelines with RANZCR, ADIA and RACGP, for an evaluation process and future expansion of indications, and for access by sports physicians as well.
RESOURCES FOR UNDERSTANDING MEDICARE
Mediguide is a handbook designed by Medicare Australia to help medical practitioners and practice staff to understand the Medicare claiming system. Medicare Australia has also developed with ACCRM a new online Medicare education program for rural and remote medical practitioners, Medicare and You.