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Doctors in the House for health reforms
ADHD, acne, and GPs’ mental health were on the agenda when the RACGP checked the Victorian Government’s temperature on health changes.
Victorian MPs had their blood pressure checked as part of the state’s inaugural GPs @ Parliament event. (Image: Silas Harris)
RACGP members made a house call with a difference on Wednesday, visiting Victoria’s Parliament House in pursuit of not only clean bills of health for the Members of Parliament, but for reforms to improve the health system for all Victorians – including GPs.
The GPs @ Parliament event offered health checks to parliamentarians while highlighting the importance of seeing a trusted GP regularly to stay well.
While the RACGP has regularly made representations at Federal Parliament, and has previously visited other states, Wednesday was the college’s first such event at the Victorian Parliament.
Led by RACGP Victorian Chair Dr Anita Muñoz, a group of college representatives offered health checks to Victorian MPs, while advocating for three major healthcare reforms:
- Permitting GPs to diagnose and prescribe treatment for Victorians living with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- Allowing GPs to prescribe oral isotretinoin to treat Victorians living with severe acne
- Ending mandatory reporting of GPs seeking mental health care
Dr Muñoz told
newsGP she has been advocating for an end to mandatory reporting of medical practitioners to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) by their treating clinicians since becoming Victorian Chair five years ago.
‘We’ve got a situation where many doctors in Victoria simply avoid accessing care, even for conditions that fall outside of, or well below, the threshold of reporting,’ she said.
‘We know that there are some Victorian doctors who fly to Western Australia to see GPs there, where there are no mandatory reporting laws, because they feel a greater sense of confidence that they won’t inappropriately get caught up in what can actually be a very distressing and negative experience with AHPRA.’
Dr Muñoz said situations reported to AHPRA ‘often fall well below the threshold’ for mandatory reporting, but the practitioner is still obliged to undertake a process of assessment and physical health.
‘Once a report has been made, AHPRA engages in the fullness of its process … that commits people to very distressing and lengthy processes of assessment,’ she said.
College delegates, including RACGP Victoria Chair Dr Anita Muñoz, third from right, at Victorian Parliament House. (Image: Silas Harris)
Dr Muñoz says that while mandatory reporting reforms may take time, she is more optimistic of swifter action on the proposed ADHD and acne medication reforms.
‘The reforms on ADHD assessments and the prescription of Roaccutane are so self-evidently logical that it would be very difficult to say that there are reasons not to proceed with those changes,’ she said.
‘It will enable people that otherwise can’t afford to see a private dermatologist and psychiatrist to actually get fair and equitable access to care for common, but really impactful, conditions.’
Reforms for ADHD diagnosis and prescribing would also bring Victorian regulations into line with Western Australia and New South Wales and enable the state’s estimated 163,000 children and 320,000 adults living with ADHD to access affordable and timely treatment.
‘ADHD can really impact people’s capacity to study, learn and participate socially, and their interpersonal relationships,’ Dr Muñoz said.
‘It certainly impacts people’s working lives and career progression, and can have a devastating impact on people’s self-esteem and self-belief, and capacity to harness their own potential.
‘GPs are well-supported by
appropriate prescribing guidelines, and have been successfully managing children with ADHD in Queensland for eight years without issues.'
Similarly, people unable to access acne medication faced some of the same issues as those with ADHD, Dr Muñoz said, particularly the impact on self-esteem, mental health, and a person’s willingness to socialise.
‘It has social as well as mental health impacts, absolutely. And you know, if we think about people who can’t afford private psychiatry fees or also travel distances to see private non-GP specialists, they just miss out,’ she said.
‘We see this in health equity data, with patients in
more rural and lower socioeconomic status areas missing out on care at significantly higher rates.
‘And that doesn’t seem equitable or fair.’
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acne ADHD attention deficit hyperactivity disorder health checks mandatory reporting mental health Victorian Parliament
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