AMA calls for hotspot declarations to be extended in letter to Minister
AMA President Dr Omar Khorshid has written to the Minister for Health urging the Government and the Department to maintain and/or extend hotspot status for those parts of the country where there are sustained community transmission.
The AMA wants this to remain in place until vaccination rates are much higher and alternative arrangements are available to provide the necessary ongoing support that general practice will need.
“General practices need much greater certainty about the support they will receive going forward and it is unfair to put them in a position where they are expected to manage the impact of COVID-19 with no support or where they are left to yo-yo in and out of support eligibility,” Dr Khorshid said in the letter.
“GPs need your ongoing support in circumstances where there is significant community transmission and the withdrawal of hotspot status makes their job much harder than it should be.”
In a welcome move, the Department of Health is in discussion with the AMA about a longer term plan to provide extra support for general practice in dealing with COVID-19 as it becomes endemic in the community. However, this remains a work in progress that does not address existing needs and the current situation means that once a hotspot declaration expires general practices are left exposed.
