More than one in three says their practice ‘at risk of closing’

More than a third of newsGP readers say their general practice is at risk of closure in the next 12 months, according to the results of a new poll.
 
Conducted last week, the poll attracted more than 1000 votes, with 347 holding concerns about their practice’s viability in the coming year. Nearly half (44%) said there is no risk of their clinic closing, while a significant minority – 212 respondents, or 21% of the total – were unsure.
 
There is no way of telling from the survey results if more than one GP from each practice responded, nor the size of the practices which the respondents believe are at risk.
 
Nonetheless, the results are likely to add to concerns about the financial challenges faced by general practices.
 
Earlier this month, newsGP reported on 184 practices closing in the most recent 12 months of data available to Primary Health Networks (PHNs) around the country, with 110 confirmed as opening during the same time.
 
Overall, there was a net loss figure of 55 general practices for 16 PHNs that gave an indication of the reduction or increase in clinics in their respective regions.
 
However, only partial data was reported, with almost half of PHNs not responding with any details. Others also said their numbers are approximate.
 
A Department for Health and Aged Care (DoH) spokesperson told newsGP that it does not consider the ‘net loss’ analysis to be ‘sound’, while confirming it has no longitudinal dataset on openings and closings of general practices.
 
RACGP President Dr Nicole Higgins told newsGP the recent poll response is a cause for significant concern.
 
‘It is clearly a real worry that more than a third of newsGP readers say their practice is at risk of closing down over the next year,’ she said.
 
‘The question of sustainability has never been so important, and with the threat of increased payroll tax hanging over general practices, these issues are not going away.
 
‘There’s no doubt the Federal Government has recognised the strain general practice has been under and has taken steps to address it – but we will be watching very closely to make sure any new measures have the right impact.
 
‘As part of that, more needs to be done to track what is happening on the ground, including how many general practices are opening and closing, and the reasons for that.’
 
Dr Justin Oughton, a GP in regional NSW, commented on newsGP that his practice had announced its closure after 43 years of operation, and pinpointed workforce issues as the reason.
 
‘As a smaller practice with only two full time, and one part-time doctor and one registrar, we were unable to survive,’ he wrote.
 
Dr Oughton said the practice, for which he is an associate, had been looking for new doctors and cost cutting measures where possible, as well as moving away from bulk billing.
 
‘Unfortunately following the retirement of two doctors our income to overheads had become too marginal,’ he wrote.
 
‘The move towards private billing resulted in a decrease in patient visits – no doubt a win for the Government – but also meant we had to reduce our registrar training positions from two to one.
 
‘Moving forward from where we are now It appears that to be a healthy GP practice you will need a minimum of five full-time doctor equivalents completely booked up.
 
‘This means no capacity for on the day visits. Our local emergency department will now have to soak up the extra load.’
 
Several of the PHNs that responded earlier this month cited workforce pressures as a threat to the viability of general practices in their region, including retiring GPs that were not able to be replaced.
 
Financial pressures were also highlighted by several PHNs, as well as relocating GPs.  
 
One PHN covering the Nepean Blue Mountains area highlighted a reduction of 73 GPs working in the area since 2019 – or around 15% of the workforce – at a time when the estimated population of the region had increased by almost 7000.
 
On Monday, the Federal Government said measures to reduce bureaucracy in recruiting overseas doctors will help to address shortages.
 
In a press release, it cited the scrapping this month of a requirement for international medical graduates to include a Health Workforce Certificate (HWC) or Health Workforce Exemption Certificate (HWEC) as part of their employer-sponsored visa applications.
 
‘Visa applications in relation to healthcare occupations including GPs are still the highest priority amongst the Government’s processing directions, with assessment times down from approximately 30 days to 1–2 days for decision-ready applications,’ Federal Immigration Minister Andrew Giles said.
 
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