The Royal Australian College of GPs (RACGP) has reiterated its call for the next ACT government to commit to an independent evaluation of the ACT nurse-led walk-in centres.
With ACT Labor announcing an expansion of centres which are reportedly bleeding taxpayers' money, ahead of this Saturday's election, the RACGP also gave its assessment of parties' primary care policies.
An independent evaluation of the centres has been a core pillar of the RACGP's ACT election platform since before a Canberra Times investigation revealed health officials had "buried" $10 million in expenses.
Emails obtained under a Canberra Times freedom of information request indicated that while Canberra Health Services had stated an average of less than $110 per service, the true cost was significantly higher at around $194.
Questions have also been raised about the ability of the walk-in centres to deliver appropriate care, with one patient being prescribed medicine that was inappropriate and potentially dangerous to him, while a vulnerable patient ended up in hospital after he attended a centre that could not provide the complex care he needed.
On the eve of Saturday's election, RACGP NSW&ACT Chair Dr Rebekah Hoffman urged Canberrans to consider their health when they go to the polls.
"Canberrans have a right to health, and there is no substitute for the quality care you get from a GP who knows you and your history," she said.
"It's outrageous that Labor is proposing to expand their walk-in centres when we're hearing that some patients aren't getting the care they need.
"The best and most cost-effective investment to expand access to essential healthcare for Canberrans is investing in existing general practices. Instead, Labor proposes to spend millions more of taxpayers' money on more new infrastructure, causing more duplication of services and wastage.
"These services reportedly cost taxpayers significantly more than if a patient had seen a GP, but we don't know how many people are getting the care they need or being referred on to a GP. Canberrans deserve transparency and an independent evaluation of these centres."
Dr Hoffman applauded the major parties for coming to the table on payroll tax that supports independent GPs.
"The Canberra Liberals pledged to exempt independent GPs from payroll tax obligations, which has been threatening the viability of practices in the ACT since a 2022 New South Wales court decision," she said.
"That's the best solution, and one that will bring ACT general practices back to what was the norm until 2022. It's been an enormous stress on practices that has disrupted our ability plan for the future and pushed up costs for our patients.
"Labor's pledge to not count bulk billed services towards payroll tax is a fantastic change from where we were before this election campaign – it shows ACT Labor has listened to GPs and our patients."
Dr Hoffman also emphasised the need to grow the ACT's GP workforce and pushed back against the notion that workforce shortages could be plugged with health workers without the same level of training.
"As we have said, Canberra has the fewest GPs of any major city in Australia – fewer per person than every other capital, including Hobart and Darwin," Dr Hoffman said.
"That's an inexcusable failure, years in the making. The next ACT Government must attract enough GPs to keep its constituents healthy and support the GPs who are here. There's no substitute for a GP who has an ongoing relationship with you and access to your medical history.
"We called on the parties to match Victoria and Queensland's GP training incentives to bring in more GPs who will train and stay in Canberra. This had a visible effect on training numbers when it was announced in Victoria.
"We applauded the Independents for Canberra for pledging similar incentives, and the Canberra Liberals for their plan to pay off up to $100,000 of doctors' HECS debt to grow the GP workforce. While ACT Labor has pledged to expand junior doctors' ability to experience general practice, we want to see more ambitious action.
"Too often, politicians have been taken in by lobbyists pushing to change rules around prescribing medication and health professionals' scope of practice. This is a slippery slope putting profits before the health and wellbeing of patients.
"These politicians are attempting to make up for their failure to attract a sufficient health workforce, knowing the consequences won't be linked back to them. That means more antibiotic resistance, more patients being given unsuitable treatments, more patients with serious health issues delaying care because someone who they assume knows the right approach has given them a script, without knowing if it's actually appropriate for their condition.
"The rule in medicine is 'first, do no harm. That's been thrown out the window here."
But Dr Hoffman praised commitments to improve access for patients seeking treatment or assessment for ADHD.
"Finally, we welcome ACT Labor and the Canberra Liberals' commitment to improve patients' access ADHD diagnosis and management through their GP. It's a sensible approach given the challenges people have accessing diagnosis and treatment, and one we look forward to working on the next government to implement."
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