The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners’ General Practice: Health of the Nation report provides annual insights and draws on specifically commissioned research spanning six years to highlight point-in-time and longer-term trends in Australian general practice.
This year’s report focuses on the sustainability of general practice, highlighting concerning issues that have arisen, including:
- burnout among the profession
- unsustainable workload and mounting administrative and regulatory burden impacting on the provision of patient care
- a declining interest in the profession as a preferred career path and a declining willingness from current GPs to recommend the profession as a career
- worsening workforce issues with increasing numbers of GPs intending to retire or cease practising over the next 10 years
- underfunding of general practice and the unsustainability of general practice as a business.
In response to the findings of the report, the RACGP held a General Practice Crisis Summit in Canberra on 5 October to tackle the most pressing issues affecting patient care. Recommendations from the summit will be presented to the Federal Government.