Getting to know Dr Michael Wright

‘We’ve got real policy problems, but there are solutions, and we need to advocate for them clearly.’
 
That is according to Dr Michael Wright, a Sydney GP, health economist, and the President-elect of the RACGP.
 
Dr Wright was voted in to lead the college to its next chapter by thousands of his GP peers and will officially take over the role from current President Dr Nicole Higgins in this month.
 
‘I was over the moon – I was cautiously optimistic, and you always hope that you’ll be successful, but I was overwhelmed when I received the call,’ he told newsGP.
 
‘I just feel so grateful that the members have given me the honour of representing them for the next two years.
 
‘I look forward to working with the members in highlighting what the problems are, but more importantly, getting us towards a better system for our patients and for general practice.’
 
Dr Wright first graduated from the University of Queensland, before specialising, working as a GP within the United Kingdom’s NHS, then receiving his PhD in health economics.
 
This career has seen him take on the varied roles of practice owner, salaried GP, contractor, and general practice registrar, as well as studying the potential impact of continuity of general practice care on health outcomes.
 
Until his Presidential nomination, he was also Chair of the RACGP Expert Committee – Funding and Health System Reform.
 
Looking forward, Dr Wright said there is ‘great potential’ for GPs to lead the health system into the future.
 
‘There are some real challenges with how policy decisions are being made and how funding is being spent – we have a limited funding bucket and I think we’ve got some real problems in that,’ he said.
 
‘The way that funding is being spent is that it’s not being spent where the evidence suggests it’s going to provide the most value for money, and we know that’s in general practice.
 
‘Funding to hospitals is rapidly increasing while funding for general practice services has actually decreased in the last year, and that’s exactly the opposite of what we need to do if we’re going to strengthen our health system.’


 RACGP President-elect Dr Michael Wright and current President Dr Nicole Higgins. 

Dr Wright’s appointment comes at a time when the RACGP’s advocacy efforts continue to ramp up, with the college now an almost-constant fixture in mainstream and medical media, as well as at high-level meetings with stakeholders and politicians.
 
With his background in both medicine and funding systems, Dr Wright said he has the experience to explain the needs of GPs in a clear way to funders and policymakers.
 
‘The college is based around education and training standards and access to high quality care as its foundation,’ he said.
 
‘But increasingly, the college does have a role to advocate where policy might be stopping patients in accessing that high quality care or stopping practices from delivering it.
 
‘What these funding problems have done is they’ve made it harder for our patients to access care, harder for our practices to remain viable, and harder for us as professionals to maintain our income.’
 
But Dr Wright will take over the role at a time when the profession is also facing significant challenges.
 
With GPs reporting significant levels of burnout, practices closing, and rural workforce shortages, he said there is still much to be done to ensure GPs are able to thrive within their profession.
 
‘It’s going to take the involvement of our members and the support of our community to highlight the problems that are existing and growing in the current system if we’re going to change them,’ Dr Wright said.
 
‘I’m really optimistic, and while there are lots of challenges facing the profession, the problems are real, but the solutions are also real.’
 
Dr Wright will officially take on the role of RACGP President at the conclusion of the 2024 Annual General Meeting on Thursday 21 November at GP24.
 
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general practice funding presidential elections RACGP advocacy RACGP President-elect