President's update: AMA26 is nearly here, rural and remote Medicare access, misinformation, and more

Happy Friday!  

This column is predominantly about the events and topics, and occasional musings that have occupied my week but before I plunge into that this time around, I’d like to take a moment. 

A moment to highlight the power of work that has been going on across the AMA to prepare for our annual National Conference. With just two weeks go until AMA26, it, like all events of its type, will flash by in what feels like an instant, but it is more than a year in the making. 

I’d like to thank the team who work tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure our profession’s premier gathering is productive, fun, and smooth in its running. I’m looking forward to welcoming all of you who already have your tickets to Melbourne, and this is the final reminder for those of you who don’t —  there are still a handful of tickets left but sales stop this Sunday! 

Now back to the usual fare - my frustrations with politicians offering ill-judged health advice continued this week. Last week, they were telling patients to steer clear of overcrowded emergency departments. 

This week we’ve seen a couple of examples of government-sponsored advertising recommending where people should go when they have a health complaint. An ED is clearly your destination of choice if you have chest pain, but some of the messaging we have seen about going to an urgent care centre for routine GP work is ill-advised and disrespectful.  

We want patients to think GP first when they have a health complaint. 

I’m increasingly concerned that the growth of UCC and pharmacy care pathways makes things confusing and risky for patients. Continuity and quality of care go together hand in glove. 

UCCs are here to stay, but we need to shape them to supplement GP and ED care, not take over or pretend to fill a gap they can never fill. We are following up with both state and federal health departments on getting the messaging right. 

This week I also caught up with the recently installed head of the Medicare Benefits & Digital Health Division at the department of health. He may be new to the role but the clock is ticking on AoB reforms, and of course the urgent need for Medicare reform across both GP and specialist practice to ensure patients get a fair rebate. We had a robust conversation about both of these issues to make sure reforms have patient care, workforce sustainability and smooth workflows front of mind. 

Today, I’ll appear before the Senate inquiry into rural, regional and remote Medicare access and funding to make a simple point: where you live should not determine the healthcare you can access.  

I’ll speak about the vital role local GPs play in keeping rural communities healthy and the need to strengthen general practice as the foundation of a more connected and sustainable healthcare system. I’ll reiterate our call for Medicare to better support the complexity of modern care, including longer consultations, stronger funding for GP-led multidisciplinary teams, and expanded support for practices delivering care in rural and remote communities.  

I’ll also highlight the need to improve access to specialist services closer to home through outreach, telehealth, and rural training pathways, so patients can receive timely, affordable care regardless of their postcode. 

Lastly, the issue of misinformation and its impact on health, including immunisation, reared its head in the media again this week. It is both sad and worrying that we continue having to have this conversation, and see the impacts that uninformed opinion, spread at scale, can have on public health. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to take part in our member survey on misinformation. 

Have a good weekend.