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Health matters brought into heart of WA politics
A contingent of GPs descended on Perth’s Parliament House, with health checks and the future of general practice front of mind.
GPs in Perth have conducted health checks with West Australian MPs, while raising some key concerns facing general practice in the state.
West Australian MPs took a moment out of the rough and tumble of politics last week, as a group of GPs swept into Perth’s Parliament to carry out health checks and raise some of the challenges facing general practice.
The delegation was led by RACGP WA Co-Deputy Chair Dr Julia Rawlinson and RACGP WA Provost Dr Tim Koh.
‘We find it a really good event to network with parliamentarians to promote the value of really good primary care,’ Dr Rawlinson told newsGP.
‘We know that in terms of value that primary care delivers, it delivers the best value per health dollar spend.
‘It gives us the opportunity to talk to politicians, to remind them of the value.’
Eight GPs were present, representing general practices across metropolitan, regional, rural and remote areas.
As politicians paused to have their vital signs taken, the RACGP delegation raised several key issues, including advocacy to:
- cut unplanned hospital admissions by incentivising GP care post-discharge, including a ‘Hospital to GP Transfer of Care’ pilot program and a funding incentive for GPs who see patients within seven days of an unplanned hospital discharge
- make ADHD treatment more equitable, by putting forward an extra $350,000 to extend the ADHD GP training program and deliver 100 more qualified GPs by June next year
- establish a Chief GP Advisor within the WA Department of Health, a move designed to improve collaboration and coordination between primary and tertiary healthcare.
‘It was really well received,’ Dr Rawlinson said.
‘It was actually a great opportunity for us as general practitioners and part of the RACGP to talk to those representatives about what themes were coming through in their electorate, what their patients were worried about or feeding back to them in terms of access to primary care.’
It was the
third year the event has taken place in WA, and the latest in a series of annual visits undertaken by GPs to parliaments around different jurisdictions nationwide.
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