On 23 February, the 65th RACGP Board of Directors met at our North Sydney office for the first time in 2023.
This month, the Board continued our discussions about the implementation of the RACGP’s Australian General Practice Training (AGPT) Program. The transition of the AGPT Program back to the college has been achieved with minimal disruption to our GPs in training, supervisors and educators.
We reviewed the 2022 Member Census data with the help of a detailed presentation from our survey providers, the Navigators. The annual census offers our members the chance to share their feedback on:
- what they expect from their college
- which membership benefits and services they value most
- how the college is meeting their expectations
- how we can better communicate the value of RACGP membership.
The Board also discussed the results of the recent Medical Training Survey. Our focus was on how the RACGP can help eliminate the racism experienced by our GPs in training, particularly our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander trainees.
We discussed plans to improve the college’s financial sustainability, which include measures to reduce costs and diversify our revenue. Following the 2022 annual general meeting in November, the Board resolved to take a proactive approach in response to increased costs and a significant reduction in revenue, during the years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Importantly, our plans to address the current financial situation will have no impact on the delivery of the AGPT Program. The RACGP’s general practice training model is funded by the Federal Government, and these funds are kept entirely separate from activities that make up the normal running of the college.
We’ll aim to implement any restructure or cost-reduction measures in a way that doesn’t compromise the quality of the services the RACGP provides and the value of membership.
We also had the pleasure of endorsing the RACGP Healthy Habits: Shaping a Healthy Australia project grant from the Department of Health for another year. This project gives GPs and their practice teams health tools and resources to better support their patients to achieve a healthy lifestyle through increased physical activity and better nutrition.
If you’d like to get in touch with the RACGP Board with any questions or comments, feel free to contact us at racgp@racgp.org.au