General Practice Patient Charter

Improve patients’ experiences of general practice services

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) General Practice Patient Charter (the Charter) is an instrument to help improve patients’ experiences of using general practice services, and to enable them to become more involved in their health and decisions about their healthcare. It supports the RACGP’s principle of a person-centred health system, with mutually beneficial partnerships between patients, their families and general practitioners (GPs).

As the peak body for GPs, one of the RACGP’s key responsibilities is to support quality improvement in the general practice setting. The Charter aims to provide GPs with a set of principles that support high-quality patient care, through the promotion of mutual
understanding of the roles and responsibilities of both the GP and the patient.

The purpose of the Charter is to:

• contribute to a productive patient–GP partnership, supporting high-quality patient care
• promote mutual understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the patient and GP
• provide guidance to patients on what they can expect when seeking or receiving care
• support patients to become more involved in their healthcare
• allow patients, families, carers and providers to share an understanding of the rights of people when receiving general practice services.

Patient resources are provided for practices to print and display in their waiting areas. The implementation guide supports practices in their understanding of their responsibilities, and how these relate to the RACGP Standards (5th Edition).