The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) welcomes the government’s recently released Living Longer Living Better plan, outlining the aged care reform package. In particular, the RACGP congratulates the government for its ‘whole system’ approach recognising the increasing role of general practitioners (GPs) in the provision of healthcare to older people living in Australia
GPs play an integral role in maintaining the wellbeing and independence of elderly community members by monitoring their health status, reducing their risk of developing preventable diseases, treating acute health problems and managing chronic disease.
Professor Claire Jackson, RACGP President, said whilst the report did not address voluntary enrolment of patients with a general practice, it is a timely reminder that all Australians should have access to a ‘medical home’, especially people with complex healthcare needs, such as the elderly with chronic diseases.
“The RACGP has long advocated for voluntary enrolment of patients with a general practice. This would allow for the provision of patient-centred, continuing and coordinated care over an extended period of time. A move to such a system would assist with disease prevention and health promotion, while improving healthcare efficiency and reducing overall healthcare costs.”
Professor Jackson said despite acknowledging the benefits associated with caring for our elderly citizens in their own home, the report appears to be a missed opportunity to better fund GP visits to residential aged care facilities. Professor Jackson highlighted the report failed to acknowledge and address the associated non-face-to-face time GPs spent caring for elderly patients, such as coordinating prescriptions and discussing the patient care with residential aged care facility staff and relatives.
“Residents of aged care facilities are amongst the sickest and most frail of people in Australia, and have higher needs for general practice than their counterparts of the same age and sex living in the wider community.
“Health service planners need to understand that despite the higher healthcare needs of the elderly, GPs trying to provide services for patients in residential aged care facilities currently experience a number of difficulties, including inadequate clinical infrastructural arrangements, lack of information technology and inability to claim for the provision of clinically relevant tasks undertaken in the absence of the patient.
“The College has long advocated the need to address the financial disincentives, including in our recent pre-budget submission, where we urged the Federal Government to increase patient rebates for GPs providing services to elderly patients in residential aged care facilities as a means of recognising the additional time, complexity and opportunity costs,” she said.
The College is pleased that the government is reforming aged care financing arrangements to build more aged care homes and to significantly refurbish existing homes.
“Even though the majority of funding won’t be available until 2014-15, overall the College welcomes the government’s plan to support older Australians,” Professor Jackson concluded.
The RACGP’s submission to the Productivity Commission in response to the Commission’s Draft Report Caring for Older Australians (March 2011) further discusses how healthcare for Australia’s elderly can be improved.