‘We need to take this seriously’: GP wellbeing front and centre

Prioritising GPs’ own health as well as caring for their patients is the important message RACGP President Dr Michael Wright continues to share, and one he highlighted at a recent event.
 
With a goal to ‘promote great medical culture’, the 2025 Australasian Doctors’ Health Conference held across 27–29 November in Melbourne, on Wurundjeri Country, brought together more than 250 local and international delegates and speakers.
 
The program included sessions on individual, workplace and broader health system factors that impact on doctors’ health, as well as solutions to support an engaged and safe healthcare workforce, to ensure better outcomes for all communities.
 
‘This is another important conference which is really trying to highlight the importance of doctors’ health within the health system,’ Dr Wright told newsGP after attending.
 
‘We tell all our patients that the best thing they can do for their health is to have a regular GP, and the same goes for all doctors, including GPs at the conference.’
 
Alongside Avant Mutual’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Steve Robson, New Zealand Doctors Health Alliance representative Dr Alexandra Muthu, and GP and renowned doctor wellbeing advocate Professor Leanne Rowe, Dr Wright was part of a panel discussion at the weekend’s conference.
 
He said the discussion covered how to improve the health system, including the importance of psychosocial and physical safety.
 
‘So that we can set up workplaces that support all doctors to provide the care our patients need, but also to do so in a supportive environment,’ he said.
 
The conference comes as GP wellbeing remains in the spotlight, with burnout, mandatory reporting laws, financial burden and workforce pressures among the issues impacting on doctors’ mental health.
 
With the RACGP committed to reducing barriers GPs face when seeking the healthcare they need, Dr Wright says the college continues to advocate for a nationally consistent approach to scrap mandatory notification laws for treating practitioners, as Western Australia already has done.
 
‘We have continued to say that all doctors shouldn’t have fear about presenting their mental health concerns,’ he said.
 
Last month the Australian Journal of General Practice focused on making GP health and wellbeing a national priority, with a series of research papers covering self-care, risk factors for burnout, and how to shift medical culture to better support GPs and registrars.
 
Sitting on the Australasian Doctors’ Health Conference panel, Dr Wright also spoke about cultural safety and the important work the college is leading through its Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Health faculty, as well as the International Medical Graduate Committee.
 
‘Given the majority of GPs working in Australia did their medical degree in other countries, it’s really important that we call out and stamp out racism and discrimination in the health system,’ he said.
 
He pointed to the work Professor Rowe is leading on how the health system can be supportive of doctors as well as patients, including a recent MJA article on ‘industrial manslaughter’ in medicine. 
 
‘There is a real potential that if health services don’t take these things seriously, they could be held liable for doctors becoming unwell,’ Dr Wright said.
 
‘It’s just another of many reasons why we need to take this seriously and support the mental health of doctors.’
 
The RACGP’s position statement on GP mental health care has a suite of resources to support members, as well as a dedicated Wellbeing Hub for both Fellows and GPs in training.
 
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