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Doctors’ view of AHPRA the most negative of all: Survey
No other health profession had a bleaker perception of the regulator than medical practitioners, according to research released this week.
Only over a third of medical practitioners had a positive view of AHPRA, compared with 52% of overall respondents.
Doctors have the most negative view of AHPRA of any health practitioner group in Australia, newly published survey results suggest.
This week, the regulator released the results of a 2021 ‘social research’ study, which looked into the perceptions of all 15 health professions under its auspices.
Just over a third of medical practitioners (35%) had a positive view of AHPRA, compared with 52% overall. Psychologists were the group with the next lowest perception of the organisation at 40%.
Alongside paramedics, doctors also had the lowest level of confidence (40%) that their national board is doing everything it can to keep the public safe.
In a separate question about whether health practitioners trust their national board, only paramedics expressed a more negative opinion (34%) when compared to medical practitioners (38%).
‘Both trust and confidence in the Board have declined since the first survey in 2018,’ a report collating the survey results relating to the Medical Board of Australia stated.
‘Levels of trust and confidence were significantly lower compared to the average across all practitioners.’
The recorded levels of trust have fluctuated significantly since the survey was first undertaken by a Melbourne-based brand consultancy in 2018.
In 2019, trust stood at 42% for medical practitioners, rising to 51% in 2020, meaning that the latest figures represent a slide of 13% year on year.
Dr Edwin Kruys, a member of the RACGP Expert Committee – Funding and Health System Reform (REC–FHSR), said the regulator is unlikely to ever score highly among doctors.
‘As the regulation agency, AHPRA is never going to win a popularity contest,’ he told newsGP.
‘This … evaluation demonstrates again that they don’t have a good reputation.’
However, while Dr Kruys believes it is hard to draw conclusions from the year-on-year changes, he does believe the new figures show a need for change.
‘The bigger picture is that [the] results do not come as a surprise,’ he said.
‘I agree with APHRA’s own conclusion that the levels of trust and confidence should be addressed to maintain organisational legitimacy.
‘I think it is important that AHPRA continues to focus on improving the quality and timeliness of their work.
‘It would be good to hear from AHPRA what their action plan will be based on the survey results, what the level of trust and confidence is they are aiming for in future surveys and within what timeframe they want to achieve this.’
In a press release this week, AHPRA said it will be using a different approach in 2023 that will ‘address the limitations of previous surveys’.
It warned that due to the voluntary nature of the survey, the responses might not be representative of the overall health professions.
In response to an inquiry from newsGP requesting further detail about the new approach, an AHPRA spokesperson said a pilot survey is due to run in the second half of this year.
They did not address queries about any actions planned to address the poor perception of AHPRA among medical practitioners, nor whether the regulator has a benchmark for the levels of trust and confidence it is aiming for in the future.
Three previous surveys were carried out from 2018–2020, commissioned by AHPRA and conducted by an independent brand consultancy.
The most recent survey was conducted directly by the regulator, largely following the same format as previous questionnaires. Its response rate of 11% was significantly higher than previously.
‘Generally speaking, a higher response rate can help reduce bias in a sample and provide greater confidence in survey findings,’ the report authors wrote.
Of those who responded, 1509 are recorded as medical practitioners, although the results do not specify what proportion of those are GPs.
The sample for medical practitioners skews heavily towards males (61%) as well as more experienced (54% aged 50 and older).
Of all those who participated, 23% said they had been the subject of a complaint, while 8% reported having been audited for compliance with registration standards.
Previously, a survey of broader community perceptions was also included in the survey, but the latest results only relate to health practitioners.
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