The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has warned that although Budget October 2022-23 delivers on key election promises, significant funding for general practice care is urgently needed to address the GP crisis.
The Budget includes a re-commitment to $250 million per year in GP funding over three years following the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce Report which is due later this year, as well as $143.3 million for rural and remote healthcare, and $229.7 million in general practice support grants to build better infrastructure. However, it does not address the immediate challenges facing general practice care, including a lack of funding following years of Medicare freezes and inadequate indexation of patient rebates.
The RACGP holds grave concerns that without major investment into general practice care by the federal Government the current shortage of GPs being felt by communities throughout Australia will intensify, waiting times to see a doctor will increase, and the health and wellbeing of Australians will suffer.
In the college’s October 2022-23 Pre-Budget submission the RACGP called for a series of timely reforms including an increase Medicare rebates for longer consultations, the creation of a new Medicare item for GP consultations longer than 60 minutes, as well as support for longer telehealth phone consultations lasting more than 20 minutes, and increased investment in rural healthcare.
RACGP President Adj. Professor Karen Price said that although the Budget delivered on many key promises, major reform was sorely needed to secure the future of high-quality general practice patient care.
“The $750 million set aside for the Strengthening Medicare Fund, can’t come soon enough. While this is a welcomed confirmation, it is important to point out that this represents only 3% of Medicare funding for GP services,” she said.
“The provision of $229.7 million in general practice grants is also welcome and we look forward to more comprehensive information regarding the number of $25,000 and $50,000 grants available for each identified area, including grants to support for general practices to achieve accreditation. We also welcome confirmation of the $143.3 million in funding for healthcare in rural and remote areas, including $74.1 million over 4 years for tiered incentives, recognising doctors with additional skills practising in rural and remote areas, and $29.4 million to expand the list of eligible health professionals and increase the rural loading in the practice stream, via the Workforce Incentive Program.
“These are measures the RACGP advocated for and these, and other initiatives encompassing remote, rural and regional health, like support
