2024.1 Placement Process – Practice Capacity Survey –closing soon – 3rd October

The survey for practice capacity 2024.1 closes Tuesday 3rd October 2023. If you havent already please prioritise the completion of this survey in the TMS today. 

What are Flexible Funds?

To complement the AGPT Grant that funds GP training, the Department of Health and Aged Care (DoHAC) provides a singular pool of payments to be utilised by the college “to provide continuing professional development for supervisors and address specific needs to build capacity and support training in areas of workforce need”.    

Flexible funds for registrars are in addition to Nationally Consistent Payments (NCP) and are available when a registrar trains in a placement of a GP catchment that has been identified as a ‘priority workforce need’. 

If your practice has been identified to attract these funds, you will have received a direct notification. However you can learn more about how we have identified the locations that are incentivised via the guidelines and FAQs linked following. 

Flexible Funds Guidelines 

FAQs for registrars and training sites  

Placement incentives 

Medicare Benefits Schedule urgent after-hours services

The Department of Health and Aged Care recently undertook a campaign around the possible inappropriate use of Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) urgent after-hours items 585 and 599. While only a small number of GPs received a letter, 40% were GPs in training. 

The Department recognises there are individual providers who specialise in after-hours services to the community and are therefore claiming a high percentage of after-hours items.  

Those undertaking an approved placement in general practice as part of a training program leading to the award of the FRACGP or training recognised by the RACGP, are eligible to bill these items. MBS Notes AN.0.9 and AN.0.19 contain more information about claiming requirements. We encourage you to familiarise yourself with these notes if you provide after-hours services in your practice. If you are unsure whether your medical indemnity insurance covers after-hours work or other services you provide as a registrar, you should seek advice from your insurer. 

If you have any questions about the MBS or the compliance letters, please email the RACGP’s Funding and Health System Reform team.  

You can find more resources to support correct MBS billing here. 

Can you help improve the teaching and learning for International Medical Graduates (IMGs) undertaking general practice training?

‘Where the rubber meets the road’ is an independent research project, based at the University of Melbourne, with funding from the RACGP. 

We wish to recruit a small number of IMGs and their supervisors from the AGPT program to participate in the project. A small-time commitment of 2 x one-hour interviews, approximately 3-4 weeks apart, for which you will be given a ‘prepaid card’ to the value of $300. 

 Objectives of project  

• To improve what we know about the teaching and learning of IMGs  

• To support supervisors in enhancing their educator practices  

• and support IMGs in optimising their training experiences. 

For more details, contact Dr Tim Clement tim.clement@unimelb.edu.au or phone 0419 857 153. 

RACGP resources and communications for supervisors

Contact us

For any queries about the information enclosed, please contact your local training team.