General Practice is on the Edge of a Cliff
General Practice is on the edge of a cliff and has been put there by the actions of Successive Governments.
There are three key components to a high quality primary healthcare system
- Professionals- Sufficient well trained and appropriately remunerated staff including GPs, Nurses, Allied Health Professionals and Administration staff,
- Practices – High quality infrastructure provided by GP Practices with up to date standards and facilities, and
- Patient Access- Ease of patient access which is impacted by cost of access, timeliness of access, and the transportability of access (competition between GP Practices)
Most GPs work in Principal led (GP Owned) Practices, small businesses that are the backbone of Australia’s primary health care system. These General Practice businesses are under extreme pressure. The Australian GP Alliance (AGPA ) is the representative body for GP owned practices which account for over 2/3 of General Practices (ref HON 2022).
We call on the Federal Health Minister to act in this time of crisis to for Primary Health Care in Australia.