‘We’re ready to talk solutions’: GPs welcome new Victorian Premier

Victorian specialist GPs have said the election of Ben Carroll as the new Premier of Victoria is a welcome chance to reset relations between the state’s doctors and government, after years of GPs’ warnings being “ignored”.

This comes after Royal Australian College of GPs (RACGP) Victoria urged all parties to back general practice to reduce the strain on Victorian hospitals in the upcoming November state election.

RACGP Victoria Deputy Co-Chair Dr Aadhil Aziz said GPs welcome the election of a new Premier as a chance to reset and address affordability, general practice viability, and patient safety.

“The new Victorian Premier, Ben Carroll, has said he will deliver the new direction Victoria needs. As GPs, that’s what we have been waiting to hear,” he said.

“As our patients’ first and main point of contact with the health system, we’ve come to the Victorian Government with critical issues and been ignored.

“We want all Victorians to have access to affordable care close to home. The election of a new Premier is an opportunity for a reset, and we’re ready to talk solutions that will provide Victorians with better access to healthcare.”

He said the recently applied payroll tax on GP billings is the biggest threat to the sustainability of general practice and patient access in Victoria.

State governments in Western Australia, Queensland, and Tasmania have exempted the billings of GPs from payroll tax. The RACGP welcomed a commitment by the Victorian opposition to scrap payroll tax on GPs earlier this month.

“The additional burden of payroll tax on GP billings has been a tax on our patients,” Dr Aziz said

“Most general practices are small businesses, and in a state which has become known as a bad place to start or run a small business, the insistence of the previous Treasurer and Premier on adding extra payroll tax to the challenges of running a practice have been felt by GPs and patients.

“Payroll tax wasn’t levied on the billings of independent medical practitioners like most GPs until a few years ago. General practice margins are extremely thin, about 2–3%, so a payroll tax of up to 4.85%, levied regardless of profitability, has been an enormous hit to viability.

“We warned the previous Premier and Treasurer that practices would have to increase fees, we were ignored, and GPs and patients bore the cost.

“For practices that can’t attract the GP workforce they need, especially to rural or outer suburban areas, the only option has been to increase fees to patients – which in turn increases the payroll tax they pay. It’s a vicious cycle.

“We hope the new Premier is ready to join his colleagues in Parliament and in other states in offering a solution.”

The RACGP is also calling for parties running in the Victorian election to:

• cease the expansion of the Chemist Care Now program, strengthen training requirements, and commit to a public review of patient outcomes and adverse events
• reinstate the role of Chief General Practice Adviser to ensure general practice is appropriately represented in the Department of Health, reducing health system spending and improving Victorians' health outcomes.

“There is no substitute for high-quality care delivered by a GP who knows you and your history,” Dr Aziz said.

“We warned that there wasn’t evidence to support the safety of expanding pharmacist prescribing without a proper trial and evaluation of health outcomes, the previous Victorian leadership went ahead regardless, and since then independent reports have shown how reckless that was.

“It’s clear the next Victorian Government needs to embed general practice in state health decision-making. The health department currently employs senior health professionals representing nursing and midwifery, psychiatry, paramedicine, and other allied health.

“The voice of general practice is a critical omission. Reinstating the Chief General Practice Adviser will open opportunities to ensure health programs are appropriate, coordinated and cost-effective.

“The next Victorian Government has a choice. It can invest in stronger general practice now, or continue paying much more when patients end up in hospital because they couldn't access care earlier.”

Tomorrow, Dr Aziz and five other GPs will meet with Victorian MPs at Parliament House to discuss key priorities for general practice and offer health checks including blood pressure, blood sugar testing and diabetes risk assessment, and mental wellbeing screening.

~ENDS

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