RACGP speaks out on lack of 10-year plan funding
With the Federal Election due to take place next month, the RACGP has urged whoever forms government to properly invest in general practice, warning the situation is ‘critical’. For college President Adjunct Clinical Professor Karen Price, time is of the essence as GPs and general practice teams already working under extraordinary pressure.
The call follows the publication of Australia’s Primary Health Care 10 Year Plan 2022–2032 (the Plan), which was quietly released in the lead up to the Federal Budget but did not attract significant funding. The college has subsequently warned that the Budget failed to fund the Plan, nor adequately address either the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic or the future challenges of a fatigued health system.
Chair of the RACGP Expert Committee – Funding and Health System Reform (REC–FHSR), Dr Michael Wright, says the Plan contains many features supported by the college, but he also has doubts about certain aspects of it. Dr Wright also believes voluntary patient enrolment should play a key role in general practice care in the years to come, but qualifies the statement by saying fee for service must be central to any model of care.