Australia’s doctors have called for an urgent review of Medicare to allow GPs to spend more time with patients and ease the burden on emergency departments.
The Australian Medical Association believes the current system is out of date and does not ensure patients receive the care they need from their doctors.
AMA President Danielle McMullen said Medicare was the bedrock of Australia’s healthcare system, but was stuck in the 1980s.
“Medicare was revolutionary when it was introduced in the 1980s, but with our ageing population and growing chronic disease rates, GP consultation items have become out-of-date,” Dr McMullen said.
“The GP consultation item structure has failed to keep up with the growing complexity of care that patients need; and is biased towards shorter consultations at a time when patients need to spend longer with their GPs,” she said.
Dr McMullen said the value of general practice care had also been systematically devalued through decades of inadequate indexation and the prolonged Medicare freeze.
“We are facing a critical juncture — a point of no return. In its 2023–24 budget the Federal Government made a significant investment in general practice, but the government has recognised that this initial investment needed to be backed by further funding and reform.
“Without reform to Medicare that will ensure it can continue to deliver for patients, the funding gulf will continue to grow to the point no future Government will be able to tackle it.”
Dr McMullen said a system that supported patients to spend more time with their GP, would help to keep patients out of Australia’s logjammed hospitals.
“Appropriately funding and resourcing general practice is pivotal to improving the health outcomes of patients. It creates significant savings by reducing the burden on other more expensive parts of the health system.”
She said the AMA proposed a new 7-tier standard consultation item structure that would support patients to spend more time with their doctor by significantly increasing funding for longer consults.
Dr McMullen said the was also calling on the Government to tackle workforce challenges and encourage a more multi-disciplinary approach to general practice healthcare where healthcare teams work together, under one roof.
“The failure to invest in Australia’s GP workforce has left general practice in a situation where it is struggling to keep up with community need and we need meaningful policy changes to turn this situation around and ensure patients can access the care they need,” Dr McMullen said.
