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Adjunct Professor Karen Price

12 Feb 2021
Column

Your chance to shape the future of the RACGP

Karen Price

12/02/2021 2:38:38 PM

President Dr Karen Price writes about the new member census and why it’s so important for the college’s work in 2021 and beyond.

RACGP logo
The census is designed to help the RACGP get a better understanding of members’ work, interaction with the college, and satisfaction with their membership.

The RACGP has more than 40,000 members all across Australia, from Albany in the southwest to Thursday Island in Far North Queensland.
 
With so much diversity, varying needs and differing challenges, it can be difficult to determine member priorities and the issues that matter to you; the support and advocacy work required for members in Western Sydney is worlds apart from what our colleagues in Arnhem Land are seeking.
 
That’s why the RACGP is conducting a college-wide membership census, so we can get a more nuanced understanding of you, your work, your interaction with the college and your overall satisfaction with your membership.
 
As an organisation committed to continuous improvement, it’s vital for us to engage with members and constantly seek feedback, in order to better meet your needs through our advocacy, along with the activities and products that we offer.
 
Simply by completing the college’s anonymous, 20-minute census, you’ll enable us to provide even more value for your membership investment.
 
We also know GPs are time poor.
 
That’s why aside from focusing on how satisfied you are with your membership and the issues on which you’d like us to concentrate over the coming 12 months, the census will also help us understand how you prefer to interact with the college and the best ways to reach you during your busy work day.
 
It will also allow us to tailor the services we provide, and refine or remove the ones that are no longer fit for purpose.
 
You can help shape our strategy for maintaining general practice standards and Fellowship, the support we give GPs working in rural and remote areas, our approach to supporting continuing professional development, and the direction of our advocacy with state, territory and federal governments.
 
Finally, we want to make sure we have your up-to-date details, including your career level and place of practice.
 
Of course, your privacy is of the utmost importance. For this reason, we have engaged market research firm The Navigators to help run the census and ensure all responses remain confidential, separated from any identifying data, and only shared with the RACGP in an anonymous form.
 
Participation is simple; from now until 28 February you can help shape the future of the college by accessing the census via the link we sent to your inbox on 12 February. And if you didn’t receive the email, you can contact the college’s member services centre on 1800 472 247.
 
Once we’ve received and processed all of the census responses, we’ll share the findings and keep you in the loop for the next steps we take into a world that will be forever changed by this once-in-a-lifetime global pandemic.
 
Twenty minutes is all it will take for you to make a difference.  
 
Log in below to join the conversation.

advocacy member census RACGP

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Dr Oliver Ralph Frank   13/02/2021 12:26:51 PM

Thanks for asking us.

The answers to the questions about awareness and use made of various services and facilities will provide some useful information, although much of that should be known already.

I had hoped and expected to see questions asking for my reasons why I voted or didn’t vote in the RACGP’s Faculty Council and Presidential elections, and why I engage or not with the RACGP more generally.

With many members expressing disappointment about what they see as the RACGP’s failure to advocate and lobby effectively for GPs, it might have been useful also to ask:
• What other organisations do you belong to that you believe are more effective at advocacy and lobbying, and what do you think makes them more effective?
• Do you believe that general practice needs another advocacy and lobbying organisation?
• If so, should the RACGP have any relationship to such a new organisation?

Is there a plan to seek this kind of feedback and input from a sample of members?

Dr McMullan   13/02/2021 7:17:23 PM

Can I ask how much is being spent on this outsourced customer survey exercise given you’ve just completed the annual health of the nation report and the PWC report and Dr Price was elected with a mandate? How was this boutique market research firm based in the Rocks with minimal healthcare experience chosen ?Why is there no data collection or privacy disclaimer at the beginning of the survey? Why all questions are mandatory and why are they using an off the shelf survey from a market research company Dynata with servers in the USA that appears to collect US political voting info amongst other things?

Dr Abdul Ahad Khan   14/02/2021 10:46:51 AM

I believe that the RACGP unlike the AMA, will always dance to the Pied Piper's ( the Govt. of the day ) Tune.
If RACGP is to be the Champion of GPs, it has to become 100% INDEPENDANT of the Govt. with ' No Strings attached ', similar to the AMA.
Then & only then can the RACGP fearlessly stand up for us Coal-face GPs, similar to
the AMA which stands up for the Specialists fearlessly.

If the Annual Membership needs to be increased in order to cut off all Strings attached to the Govt. of the day, so be it.
I for one will gladly pay the increased Annual Membership Fees.

As it stands today, the RACGP can only dance to the Tunes of the Pied Piper.

DR. AHAD KHAN

Dr Arthur Ho-Cheung Chiang   14/02/2021 1:03:04 PM

thank you for asking. Great start.
Skin cancer is a massive issue in Australia. GP is the main front line doctors for early detection and prevention. Some of the well-trained GP are not known by the public or accepted by our colleagues. Thee are several Universities and Colleges providing training, but not co-ordinated. I believe it is high time that our College can spearhead to unify the trainings and confer a title, e.g. 'skin cancer doctor' for those who fulfill the necessary training by recognised courses. We will set the recognised standard. I believe it gives a very necessary and important confidence for the general public and colleagues, including GP and surgeons.