This week, NSW MPs are meeting with GPs to have confidential health checks and talk about important changes needed to keep people healthy across the state.
The RACGP’s second NSW GPs Health Checks @ Parliament event will give MPs the opportunity to get a checkup, and GPs to advocate for issues facing general practice and communities in the state, including:
- Expanding access to vaccination against influenza, meningococcal B, and RSV: including free MenB vaccines for babies and teens and free RSV vaccinations for over-50s
- Attracting and retain doctors in remote communities: funding locums to cover GPs in the remote and very remote parts of NSW so they can take a break
- Allowing GPs to prescribe oral isotretinoin (Roaccutane) for severe acne: amend regulations so patients can access timely, affordable care, while alleviating pressure on dermatologists
- Providing greater support for GPs during natural disasters: recognising general practice as an essential service and including GPs in planning so they can provide physical and mental health care when disasters strike.
Reform needed
RACGP NSW & ACT Chair Dr Rebekah Hoffman said GPs are ready to support patients and MPs to stay healthy. She says that with reforms at the state level, local doctors will be able do more to reduce strain on the hospital system and support their communities.
‘New South Wales’ 13,000 GPs are ready to step up to keep our patients healthy,’ she said. ‘We’re visiting Parliament to give MPs and our state’s primary health system a checkup. There are commonsense reforms and smart, targeted preventive health investments MPs can make that’ll pay dividends for our health system.
‘Yesterday, we welcomed no-cost, needle-free flu vaccinations for vulnerable young patients because it’s a smart way to increase immunity, keep vulnerable kids safe, and reduce the strain on our hospitals. Today, we’ll be asking MPs to approach dangerous diseases like flu, meningococcal, and RSV with the same mindset,’ said Dr Hoffman.
‘Meningococcal B is deadly, even for young people in good health. Making it free for both babies and teens will give them lasting immunity. While people receive free vaccination against other strains, families have to shoulder the cost of MenB vaccination themselves to protect against the risk of death or permanent disability.
‘Our older patients are vulnerable to severe RSV and flu. Patients aged over 50 are vulnerable to severe RSV infections that often result in hospitalisation, putting the whole system under pressure. Funding vaccinations for patients over 50 won’t just keep them healthy, it’ll keep the hospital system working well, especially in seasonal outbreaks.’
Remote medicine
The NSW GPs will also call for support for GPs in the state’s remote regions, such as Broken Hill, Gunnedah, and Deniliquin.
‘A major challenge in hiring and keeping GPs in remote areas is that once they’re in town, they often find it difficult to take leave,’ Dr Hoffman said.
‘That also means GPs in these communities face burnout at higher rates. When one of these GPs needs a break, they need a locum GP to provide care in their place, but that can cost $2000 a week plus travel and accommodation.
‘If the NSW government funds locums to provide this cover, as many other health professionals are, it will be far less of a challenge to attract GPs to stay and practise where they’re needed most in remote New South Wales.’
She said patients with severe acne also face long wait times and often exorbitant fees, particularly in rural and remote NSW. To help resolve the issue, MPs are being asked to allow GPs to prescribe isotretinoin for severe acne by updating the state’s poisons legislation.
‘If allowed to prescribe isotretinoin for those with severe acne, GPs could be reducing financial barriers and wait times for thousands of patients,’ Dr Hoffman said.
‘This is an equity issue. Many families face dermatologist fees of more than $400 every six months. GPs could cut those costs substantially, but currently have to gain approval from the Chief Health Officer to prescribe.
‘Research released this year by the Grattan Institute found one in 10 patients referred to public dermatology clinics wait 60 days for an urgent appointment, more than twice the recommendation, and 167 days for a routine first appointment. GPs can cut those wait times substantially. Using isotretinoin during pregnancy can have extremely serious side effects, but it has a well-established risk profile and monitoring requirements that GPs are ready to meet.’
Priority access
The GPs are also calling for MPs to recognise general practice as an essential service with priority access to emergency infrastructure repairs, power restoration, medical supplies, and emergency funding to maintain operations, and remove regulatory barriers that reduce GPs’ ability to provide care in natural disasters.
Dr Hoffman said the recent NSW floods showed how regulations needlessly add complexity after a disaster.
‘Earlier this year during the floods in Taree and Forster, it took advocacy from local MP Tanya Thompson to get the power back on at a practice that wanted to provide physical and mental health support to their patients,’ she said.
‘It’s a great illustration of how MPs can intervene for their communities, but if practices were recognised as the essential services they are and given appropriate priority to get them back online, it wouldn’t be necessary.
‘And GPs are prevented from providing care due to regulatory burdens, too. GPs in training who studied in Australia can work in temporary clinics during a disaster, but those who studied overseas aren’t allowed to – even if the clinic is just down the street.
‘It’s not because of any difference in how they practise, it’s simple bureaucracy,’ said Dr Hoffman. ‘It’s just one example of how GPs’ hands are tied when they want to help their communities. Recognising the role of GPs in disasters and removing these barriers are the kinds of common-sense changes we’re bringing to parliament.’
