media releases

“Today’s announcement of specific funding for GPs who have enrolled patients with diabetes is to be commended as a recognition of the importance of primary care of chronic disease in our community and the need for an integrated approach to managing such diseases,” said Dr Tim Woodruff, President, Doctors Reform Society.
“This program has the potential to benefit many patients with diabetes and to improve the primary care approach to this chronic disease,” said Dr Woodruff. “But we need a systemic approach to improving primary care and to improving management of chronic disease. Targeting one disease ignores others. Targeting a disease by funding through doctors ignores patients who don’t see doctors often enough or at all.”

“Patients who have difficulty getting to see a doctor will not have any extra funds spent on their care. Patients who can’t find a doctor with whom they want to enrol will not have any extra funds spent on their care. Many of the most needy patients in our community, in nursing homes, boarding houses, and rural and remote areas, who already seldom see doctors except when they need admission to hospital, will be unaffected by this program”.

“This is another program which will deliver some benefits, and has some excellent principles such as voluntary enrolment of patients”, said Dr Woodruff, “but it is still just another program run from Canberra, ignoring local needs, with yet another layer of red tape paperwork for doctors. Whilst 30% of preventable admissions to hospitals are related to diabetes, that means 70% are not, and this small but important program ignores all those patients.”

“What we need are structural changes to how we fund and run primary care to focus on all patients; not on specific diseases, not on doctors, not on nurses, so that those patients in need, whatever their disease, have access to integrated care, rather than just the universal entitlement to care under Medicare”, said Dr Woodruff. “What we need after nearly three years of consultation is a vision of a health system which is patient centred, needs based, structurally integrated, and accountable. We hope the major reform announcements are still to come.”

Dr Tim Woodruff
President
Doctors Reform Society

Dr Con Costa
Vice President
Doctors Reform Society

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