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Ban on direct-to-consumer advertising by after-hours providers welcomed by RACGP
RACGP President Dr Bastian Seidel told newsGP he is pleased with the news after-hours primary care services would no longer be allowed to employ direct-to-consumer advertising.
The RACGP supports of the role of after-hours services when providing deputised care in the after-hours period, but believes the standards of daytime general practice should be applied.
‘Marketing promotions used to promote urgent after-hours primary care services over regular general practice care are inappropriate and unacceptable,’ Dr Seidel said. ‘Advertising and marketing campaigns that unnecessarily divert patients from daytime general practice into the after-hours period represent a pathway to fragmented care and potentially poorer outcomes for patients.
‘Banning direct-to-consumer advertising in this sector is a common sense decision that has been made in the best interest of Australian patients.’
As part of its revision of the guidelines for the Approved Medical Deputising Service Program, the Department of Health has informed medical deputising services they cannot send patients marketing text messages and emails; engage in advertising through third-party websites and social media; distribute fliers and promotional letters; and create newspaper, magazine and television promotions or outdoor advertising.
The world of after-hours primary care advertising has long been a murky one. Promotions such as Dial a Home Doctor offering patients 10,000 tickets to Dreamworld on the Gold Coast late last year have been called examples of offers that could create inappropriate or artificial demand for after-hours services.
The RACGP has long advocated for changes to the marketing of after-hours primary care services. Dr Seidel said the RACGP is supportive of the role of after-hours services when providing deputised care to patients in the after-hours period. It believes the standards of daytime general practice should be applied to the after-hours period to ensure patients have access to high-quality care.
‘It is vital patients have access to high-quality after-hours primary care services delivered by a specialist GP or a doctor actively working towards specialist recognition as a GP, but these services should not be considered as a “first option” for patients in the place of in-hours services,’ he said. ‘Better enforcement of advertising restrictions will assist in preventing this from occurring.’
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