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People with intellectual disability gain access to the care they deserve

6 February, 2007

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), Australia’s largest general practitioner representative organisation, welcomed today’s introduction of a new Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) item providing for a comprehensive annual health assessment for people with intellectual disability.

“The introduction of this new Medicare Item is an important victory on the way to providing high quality care to Australians with intellectual disability. This group of people have some of the worst health outcomes in Australia, and this item is one step towards rectifying that,” said Dr Vasantha Preetham, RACGP President.

“The RACGP has long supported the introduction of this Medicare Item and we have worked closely with key disability advocacy groups, the Australian Medical Association and the Australian Government to achieve its introduction.

“We are pleased to see that Medicare will fund the time general practitioners need each year to communicate with our patients with this form of disability and their families and carers to get a comprehensive stock take of their needs.”

“Recent research shows that annual comprehensive health assessments can make a major contribution to improving the health of people with disability, including improvements in immunisation rates, women’s health screening, assessment and recognition of previously undetected hearing and vision impairment, identification and treatment of obesity,” said Associate Professor Robert Davis, Centre for Developmental Disability Health Victoria, Monash University.

“Hundreds of thousands of Australians will benefit from this decision. Patients with an intellectual disability will be able to access the care they require. For their families, this will be a huge relief,” said Dr Preetham.

“Other people with disability need the same opportunity, and we believe that this decision by the Australian government will show that there is real value in extending this item to all people with disability in Australia,” Dr Preetham concluded.

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Tel: 0404 055 265.

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners is responsible for maintaining standards for quality clinical practice, education and training, and research in Australian general practice. The RACGP has the largest general practitioner membership of any medical organisation in Australia, with the majority of Australia's general practitioners belonging to their professional college. Over 22,000 general practitioners are members of the RACGP Continuing Professional Development Program. The RACGP National Rural Faculty, representing more than 4500 members, has the largest rural general practitioner membership of any medical organisation in Australia.

Publication Date: 7 February 2007
Authorised By: Media