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Federal Budget 2024–25 ‘dropped the ball’: RACGP


Michelle Wisbey


14/05/2024 9:04:34 PM

The college has slammed the Government’s spending, labelling it a ‘huge disappointment’ which ignores struggling patients and exacerbates a critical GP shortage. 

2024-25 Federal Budget papers.
The total health spend in the 2024–25 Federal Budget is $8.5 billion. (Image: AAP/Lukas Coch).

The RACGP has been left fuming, after the Federal Government handed down a 2024–25 Budget which it says offers ‘little to no relief’ for patients and threatens to undo Medicare improvements.
 
Released on Tuesday evening, the Budget was labelled a ‘huge disappointment’ by the college, saying it does little to ensure Australia has enough GPs for the future or improve access to primary care for all Australians.
 
It said the Government spend fails to make healthcare affordable for struggling patients in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis.
 
Speaking from Canberra’s Parliament House, RACGP President Dr Nicole Higgins said the Government has dropped the ball in its commitment to strengthen Medicare and reduce out-of-pocket costs for patients.  
 
‘The Government took the first step to repair decades of devastating underfunding of Medicare and general practice care last year – now this work will stall,’ she said.
 
‘Australians are already putting off essential care due to rising costs. This Budget won’t help, so out-of-pocket fees will increase. It will mean a sicker nation and more pressure on hospitals, which will cost the Government much more.  
 
‘There is no more support for rural and regional patients, or people with chronic conditions, which is where the need is greatest. It shows the Government has the wrong priorities for fixing the health system.’
 
The RACGP said there is a critical lack of support to get more GPs in training, labelling it ‘short-sighted’ and exacerbating a critical workforce shortage.   
 
Dr Higgins said Australians will be disappointed the Federal Government ‘hasn’t seen the value in increasing Medicare rebates’ as a cost-of-living relief measure.
 
‘The Medicare rebate belongs to patients – it’s the amount the Government pays to subsidise their healthcare,’ she said.
 
‘This Budget says the Government isn’t interested in ensuring the subsidies for healthcare for Australians are anywhere close to the real-life costs of providing that care.
 
‘There is no substitute for the quality care provided by a GP who knows you and your history. General practice helps people live healthier lives and stay out of hospital. The smartest and most cost-effective health investment Government can make is increasing patients’ Medicare rebates, so they can access affordable care.’
 
The Budget’s $8.5 billion health spend includes:

  • $17.4 million to extend the General Practice Incentive Fund until 30 June 2025
  • $90 million to fund the implementation of the health-related recommendations of the Kruk Report
  • $16 million to implement system changes to MyMedicare
  • $71.7 million for Primary Health Networks to commission the services of mental health nurses, counsellors, social workers and others, to provide ongoing care to people with complex needs, in between their GP and specialist appointments
  • Extending Single Employer Model (SEM) trials until December 2028 to attract and retain GPs in areas of workforce need
Additionally, it will see investments into Medicare, including $57.4 million to extend Practice Incentive Program Quality Improvement incentive payments.
 
It will also include $56.5 million to implement recommendations from the MBS Review Taskforce, and $23.1 million to extend the MBS Continuous Review program.
 
As well as $227 million for 29 additional Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, which the RACGP says are not ‘value for money’ and are an ‘inefficient use of limited health resources’.
 
Dr Higgins added that while SEMs have a role to play in addressing areas of workforce need, a thorough independent evaluation is needed prior to any further rollout to test what works.
 
The RACGP welcomed the Kruk Report funding but said that while international medical graduates play a valuable role in Australia’s health system, more support is needed to help Australian GPs in training.
 
‘The College acknowledges the $90 million funding to implement the recommendations in the independent Kruk review of Australia’s regulatory settings relating to overseas health practitioners,’ Dr Higgins said.
 
‘Negotiations on how this will be done are still underway.’
 
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Dr Greg Saville   15/05/2024 9:33:56 AM

Once again Dr Higgins and the RACGP have thrown the hundreds of hard working GP’s who work at the urgent care clinics and priority care clinics under the bus. Telling us that we do not provide “value for money” to our patients is a slap in the face of all of the GP’s working in these clinics. The sooner the hundreds of GP’s, who toil hard at night and on the weekend to help reduce the stress on our emergency departments, split from the college and form an Urgent Care College the better.


Dr Robin Dubow   15/05/2024 10:52:15 AM

Urgent care centers do nothing to ease the GP shortage. They remove GPs from General practice, thus worsening the crisis. UCCs do no on-going care, and do not see the vast majority of general practice problems!


Dr Peter James Strickland   15/05/2024 11:54:22 AM

The Federal Govt are NOT interested in GPs and their patients. It is all about dollars and popularity, except ironically the major expense is in hospital and these so-called Urgent Care places for the Australian taxpayer to pay through the nose for now. Greg Saville (above) would out-spend almost all private GPs on unnecessary expensive testing , and without the cognisance all GPs have about reducing expenditure of the health dollar every day. Medibank, and then Medicare were designed to socialise medicine right from the start, and the same chaos that occurred in the Whitlam era remains now. Waiting lists in hospitals everywhere are unconscionable now ---we were worried in 1970/71 about our ENT list waiting in a major hospital for surgery was about 60 patients, and for urgent general surgery > 20 --look at them now ----CHAOS, and unfixable, and GPs now unable to bulk bill to remain viable --except those on wages/salary!


Dr Brendan Sean Chaston   15/05/2024 11:59:34 AM

The government/DOH has given up on general practice. To whingy, costly and over qualified for what we deliver. They are listening but just not accepting. There is no apparent alarm in regard to dwindling registrar numbers.

They could have (to some degree) chosen to save general practice by adjusting the rebates but instead palliated by adjusting the bulk billing incentive ( which is easily removed).

Our replacements are already being arranged. Primary care will be delivered by nurses/pharmacist/allied health and IMGs bypassing the college.

Far fewer GPs will be necessary.

This is all happening right now in plain sight - I don’t think our collective has noticed. The government may throw us some scrapes but only to placate and keep us off the scent of the kill.


Dr Greg Saville   15/05/2024 12:44:51 PM

The comment by Dr Dubow underscores the general ignorance of some GPs and the whole of the RACGP about the role of urgent care clinics. The UUC’s are NOT intended to ease the GP shortage, they are meant to ease the burden on our overworked and burnt out emergency department colleagues. They are NOT worsening any GP “crisis”. UCC’s are NOT meant to provide ongoing care. That is the role of the patient’s GP. The UCC’s provide one-off care to patients with Cat 4 and Cat 5 complaints who cannot see a GP or who would otherwise flood to the local emergency department. They see the more serious acute GP problems. Currently we see patient sent to us by GP’s who no longer plaster fractures, suture wounds, dress wounds, etc. Patients are provided discharge summaries for continuity of care (try getting one from a busy ED). There are hundreds of hard working UCC GP’s that would be annoyed by the lack of respect shown to them by some of colleagues. Sad.


Dr R   15/05/2024 4:43:01 PM

I work in both GP and urgent care clinics.
The reason urgent care clinics are needed is that many GP clinics do not set aside adequate number of appointments for ‘urgent issues’
A patient rings with something that needs attention that day to be told ‘sorry next available is not for several days’
I see around 30-40% kids and 30% acute injuries (MSK/sutures/fracture/plaster). We are not involved in chronic disease management, mental health, preventative care. We are solely to assess and manage until they see their own GP. It saves a patient a 4 hour wait in ED as they would be Cat 4/5 issues.

It’s nice to have a bit of a change up from regular GP work and there is no formal follow up.

GP’s need to get on board with urgent care clinics rather than resist, otherwise the pharmacy chains will start opening up ‘urgent type clinics’ with pharmacy led assessments similar to other countries. Eg pharmacy prescribing antibiotics or salaried doctor on staff using government grants.


Dr R   21/05/2024 5:01:41 PM

I am not a politician so I understand the problems o f General Practice!!! my suggestions for helping to fix the problems is probably too simple for a politician to understand! the medicare rebate needs to be at least doubled to catch up with politician's increases in the last 10 years. the way to fund this is to increase the Medicare levy - that's what it is there for - to pay for Medicare. It is not a tax therefore the government cannot be accused of increasing taxes. Also they shroud recognise that for every dollar the Medicare rebate goes up most Health providers will return 45 cents to the ATO!! ?too easy?!


Dr Robert John Fearon   22/05/2024 7:43:33 AM

why not?