‘Hearing real stories is what makes the difference’

The RACGP’s Western Australia Council has hosted a successful GP roundtable, allowing GPs from all corners of the state to advocate for change face-to-face with decisionmakers.
 
On Tuesday, RACGP members met with WA Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John to talk through a range of issues impacting GPs, including the upcoming Federal Election, training and workforce, urgent care clinics (UCCs), and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) prescribing.
 
The roundtable was arranged before the Prime Minister called the 3 May Federal Election.
 
RACGP Vice President and WA Chair Dr Ramya Raman attended the three-hour sit down, describing it as ‘a proper roundtable where the discussions were robust’.
 
‘Getting grassroot GPs into the room and advocating and hearing real stories is what makes the difference,’ she told newsGP.
 
‘We had colleagues who are in mainstream general practice, colleagues who work in urgent care clinics, as well as academic colleagues.
 
‘We had real-life stories of what the situation is, and it gives a perspective for the lay of the land, which is beneficial for politicians to hear.’
 
As part of the roundtable, the WA Council explained the RACGP’s 2025 Federal Election asks, including a 40% increase to all Medicare rebates for Level C and Level D general practice consultations.


Rural GPs attended the roundtable virtually to ensure doctors from all areas were included in the evening’s discussions. 

‘We have communicated through to Senator Steele-John, and he has acknowledged, the importance of our federal ask of increasing the Medicare patient rebate by 40% for the longer consultation – that’s number one,’ Dr Raman said.
 
‘The second component is our ask for increasing the patient Medicare rebate by 25% for mental health consultations, those are the two key messages.
 
‘The last time we met, we really wanted to make general practice the centre of the conversation, because we need to absolutely recognise the work of GPs, and that certainly has happened.’
 
As part of the roundtable, attendees also spoke about medical students and junior doctors’ interest in general practice and the role that scope of practice plays in their decision making.
 
GPs also raised ideas on the recent evaluation of the operation of UCCs, as well as outlining calls and potential changes to GPs’ ability to initiate and manage ADHD treatment.
 
Upon the meeting’s conclusion, Dr Raman said the diversity of GPs in attendance was key to advocating for doctors from all walks of life.
 
‘It makes a huge difference – that’s the reality of our membership and we just have to be very real about who our members are and what they’re wanting,’ she said.
 
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