The report, titled Health of The Nation, offers an insight into the trends and issues impacting Australian healthcare. More than 1500 doctors working in Australia as a General Practitioner were surveyed for the report, which also draws on data from the Medicine in Australia: Balancing Employment and Life (MABEL) survey and other research relevant to general practice. Areas covered by the report include access to general practice by patients, the general practitioner role, and the workforce of general practice.
The report found that while commonly managed health concerns vary between individual general practitioners, mental health issues including depression, anxiety and mood disorder remain the most common health issue managed by GPs. Respiratory concerns were identified as the second most common ailment GPs dealt with, following by musculoskeletal problems.
With regards to patient health issues that are causing most concern in the future for General Practitioners, half of respondents highlighted mental health, followed closely by obesity. These two conditions were among the top priority health policy issues general practitioners believe the federal government should focus on. Medicare rebates were the highest priority with 42 percent of responding GPs seeing this as a priority health policy issue.
General practices in Australia vary in size. The majority of survey participants reported that they work in a practice which has six to ten GPs. Less than five percent of respondents to the survey were solo GP practices. More than 85 percent of respondents indicated that their practice had after-hours arrangements in place for patients. In regional and rural areas, after-hours services are typically delivered by the doctors who work in the practice whereas in metro areas the majority of practices had an arrangement with a medical deputising service.
The majority (91 percent) of survey respondents stated that their practice employed a practice nurse. More than two thirds of general practices are co-located with a pathology collection centre and just under a third were co-located with a pharmacy. Other health services reported to be co-located with were skin cancer clinics, travel clinics and physiotherapy.
Twice as many general practitioners working in regional and rural areas provide care in two or more health settings compared with GPs working in metropolitan areas. Overall, a third of GPs provide care on a regular basis to patients in more than one health setting including aged care facilities and hospitals.
Work-life balance and hours of work
More than four out of five GPs reported being satisfied with their work hours and 60 percent believe the workload is manageable. General practitioners working less than 40 hours a week were more positive with regards to work-life balance but overall more than half of survey respondents stated that they are able to maintain a good work-life balance and a third of GPs believe their work-life balance will improve over the next year.
Among the top challenges for general practices were maintaining work-life balance, and finding and retaining quality staff, particularly for rural and remote practices. Other challenges included maintain cash flow and accessing other medical experts.
The RACGP is a professional organisation, representing around 90% of health professionals working in general practice in Australia. The RACGP uses the findings from the report to advocate on behalf of its members and patients of general practitioners throughout Australia.