The Royal Australian College of GPs (RACGP) has praised today's announcement of a package to increase Western Australians' access to GPs and reduce hospital readmissions by the state opposition as parties in WA gear up for the 8 March election.
The $140 million package includes $40,000 GP training incentive grants to grow WA's specialist GP workforce, funding to give hospital-based junior doctors hands-on experience in accredited general practices, $60 million funding for patients to consult with a specialist GP following hospital discharge, and funding to upskill GPs in prescribing for ADHD.
Several of these measures reflect solutions that have been offered and advocated for by the RACGP to solve WA's health challenges.
The RACGP has called for $40,000 GP training incentives to bring GPs in training – 55% of whom earn less than they did working in hospitals – towards equal pay and entitlements with colleagues training in non-GP specialisations. Half of Victorian GPs in training who received a similar grant said they would not have trained as GPs without it.
The College has also called for states to enable GPs to better support patients with ADHD management, ensure more junior doctors training in hospitals can gain experience in general practice, and for patients to see their GP soon after a hospital discharge. Visiting a GP within two days of a hospital visit reduces patient hospital readmission by a 32%.
RACGP WA Chair and National Vice President Dr Ramya Raman said the package is solutions-focussed.
"We have long advocated for WA state governments to explore ways to decrease hospital admissions and costs by addressing health challenges before they reach a critical point," she said.
"If there are not enough specialist GPs, or someone can't see a GP after they leave hospital due to cost or access, patients end up back in hospital.
"Hospitals should be for emergency and non-GP specialist care, but too often, they are a service of last resort for illnesses that should have been managed in the community.
"Specialist GPs can and should be catching and managing our patients' health issues early, but that requires our patients to have good access to specialist GPs in the first place.
"These policies are pragmatic, and they're led by the evidence. It's clear that the opposition is focused on what works and what is cost-effective for a state government.
"Patients aren't interested in the specifics of our federated system. They just want better access to healthcare.
"Perth and our rural, regional, and remote communities need more specialist GPs. Incentives like those we've called for to address disparities in pay and work entitlements would break a significant barrier to growing our GP workforce, as will giving junior doctors more experience of general practice.
"Preventable hospital readmissions place a big burden on hospitals, and getting patients to their specialist GP after they're discharged is the best way to ensure people stay well after they leave a hospital bed.
"Productivity Commission data show last financial year, there were 357,143 'GP-type' potentially preventable hospitalisations in Western Australia, and many of these will be readmissions.
"Seeing a specialist GP within two days of a hospital visit reduces your odds of ending up back in hospital by a third. We need a system that ensures everyone can do that.
"These kinds of policies will benefit not just patients, but state health systems. They should be a model for policymakers not just in WA, but around Australia."
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