22 January 2016


New era for general practice training

This year marks the beginning of a new era in general practice training, with fewer providers covering larger regions in a tighter fiscal environment.

The negotiations and decisions taken in 2015 were not easy, but foremost in the deliberations of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Council was stability for the general practice training system, as well as sustainability of the profession to maintain a quality primary healthcare system for all Australians. 

The Fellowship of the RACGP (FRACGP) is established, respected and acknowledged by the Australian Medical Council (AMC) as the primary endpoint to practice unsupervised general practice anywhere in Australia – be it in an urban, regional, rural or remote locations. FRACGP training is broad and enables our GPs to adapt their skills to reflect their own community needs.

The profession-led General Practice Training Advisory Committee (GPTAC) held its inaugural meeting just prior to Christmas. The GPTAC will ensure appropriate governance, effectiveness and efficiency in providing the government advice on general practice training policies. The committee's stated purpose is to maintain and improve standards of training and to ensure the registrar workforce is well distributed.

The Chair of the new committee is Professor Steve Trumble. The RACGP is represented by Censor-in-Chief Dr Mark Miller and myself.

Regular updates and outcomes will be provided to RACGP members when available.

The RACGP remains committed to ensuring quality in standards, curriculum, exams, selection and accreditation of Regional Training Organisations (RTOs) to provide the general practice training program: 

  • The RACGP Standards for general practice training (4th edition) were reviewed in 2015 to ensure the requirements for training are made as clear as possible for registrars, medical educators and supervisors.
  • The RACGP exams, which provide an objective assessment for more than 2000 candidates a year, are based on continuous improvement assisted by examiner and censor feedback. New support material and changes to Exam Support Online (ESO) are currently being prepared and implemented.
  • The RACGP has created a comprehensive policy framework with policies redeveloped to provide improved advice and clearer guidance, and to ensure consistency of information.
  • The RACGP’s Curriculum for Australian General Practice 2016 has been completed with an emphasis on clarity. All members and registrars are encouraged to familiarise themselves with this important document.
  • The competency profile for general practice at the point of Fellowship supports the curriculum and describes the skills and competencies required of a modern GP.
  • At the end of 2015, Federal Health Minister Sussan Ley indicated that the RACGP and the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) would, from 2017, be responsible for selection into Australian General Practice Training (AGPT). Planning and discussion with the Department of Health is now underway with implementation for entry scheduled for the 2018 training year. An important change outlined by Minister Ley is that, for the first time, each college would have an entry quota. The RACGP will be responsible for the selection of 90% of the candidate cohort.
  • Accreditation of RTOs will continue under a bi-college arrangement with new and amalgamated RTOs the first to be reviewed. Processes will commence in the first half of 2016.
  • I have been invited to the annual General Practice Registrars Association (GPRA) conference and hope to meet informally with GPs in training. My formal presentation will be about the RACGP’s 'The Good GP' campaign.

There may remain areas of uncertainty for our registrars, educators and supervisors in this rapidly changing environment. The RACGP, through various membership and support initiatives and access to AGPT data, is now well placed to provide advice and support. Registrars in training are encouraged to contact the RACGP through their state faculty, state censors or the education services team at the national office.

Dr Frank R Jones
RACGP President


A $225m boost for rural training

A new rural medical training package to support stronger health workforce outcomes was announced in the Federal Government’s December mid-year budget update. The $93.8m Integrated Rural Training Pipeline for Medicine shows a commitment to enabling integration through 30 new regional training hubs, a Rural Junior Doctor Training Innovation Fund and expansion of the Specialist Training Program. The second measure commits $131.2m to expand the Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training Program to include three new sites.

Providing a much needed boost to rural training, these investments include a number of the RACGP’s own recommendations from its 2014 National Rural Training Project Report. This report was a member-driven strategy, involving 2,400 rural members, and called for more localised training solutions through rural hubs in order to establish important community connections by linking the different stages of training in a rural setting.

RACGP President Dr Frank Jones and RACGP Rural Chair Dr Ayman Shenouda have written to Minister Ley and Rural Health Minister Fiona Nash in support of the development work now occurring.


Support resources soon available for ePIP and My Health Record

As reported in last week’s In Practice, the Federal Government has announced that the eHealth Practice Incentive Payment (ePIP) eligibility criteria will now require the uploading of shared health summaries (SHS). Members will be aware that the RACGP has opposed this change since it was first put forward in September 2015. Rather than meaningless SHS upload targets, the RACGP advocated for incentives that support data accuracy and quality, and the appropriate sharing of data across the healthcare sector.

Nevertheless, the RACGP has commenced work on a number of resources to support members in making informed choices about participating in the ePIP and the My Health Record. Keep an eye out for these in In Practice over the coming weeks.


Free RACGP webinar: ‘No jab, No pay’

The Australian Government’s ‘No jab, No pay’ policy and amended vaccination requirements are now in place and having an immediate impact on GPs and their practices, with increased demand from patients for advice about new and catch-up vaccinations.

RACGP NSW&ACT will host a free webinar on Wednesday 10 February to provide GPs with information about catch-up measures and advice on managing the impact of the ‘No jab, No pay’ policy. This will include advice on discussing the new policy with patients and families, including exemption, reviewing immunisation records and record keeping, and recognising the importance of timely infant vaccination.

The webinar will be presented by NSW Health’s Director of Communicable Diseases, Dr Vicky Sheppeard, and RACGP Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health medical advisor, Dr Tim Senior, and is approved for 2 Category 2 QI&CPD points.

Visit the RACGP website for more information and to register.


Clinical Pearl

Opioid prescribing policy for patients

Does your practice have problems with patients requesting prescriptions for drugs of dependency? Do you have a practice policy that outlines the steps GPs should take?

Practices should consider discussing and establishing a prescribing policy related to how to manage new patients who present to the practice requesting drugs of dependence continuation from another provider.

The RACGP’s Prescribing drugs of dependence in general practice, Part A, Clinical governance framework has an example of a practice policy for opioid prescribing. This policy can be tailored to specific circumstances and provides practices with an approach to consistently manage patients while supporting GPs in safely prescribing drugs of dependence.  

Visit the RACGP website for more information and further examples of practice policies.


In Practice poll

Work is underway to draft the next edition of the RACGP Standards for general practices (the Standards). As part of this process, the RACGP called for stakeholder feedback on the 4th edition Standards, including what works well, what needs changing and any identified gaps.

During the consultation period a number of stakeholders suggested that defibrillators should be included in the next edition of the Standards. The RACGP has included an indicator on defibrillators in the first draft of the 5th edition Standards, however it is unflagged and therefore not mandatory. The draft indicator is:

Indicator 3.1 G – Our practice has a defibrillator.

You are invited to participate in the RACGP poll to determine whether this indicator is appropriate for inclusion in the next edition of the Standards and, if so, whether the indicator should be a mandatory (flagged) requirement or not (unflagged).


Media enquiries

Journalists and media outlets seeking comment and information from the RACGP should contact:

John Ronan

Senior Media Advisor