The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) will play a critical central role in how Australia’s future GPs are trained as part of Federal Government changes announced today.
RACGP President Dr Frank R Jones said the changes would mean the RACGP would take on increased responsibility and oversight of the training program from 2016 and help secure the future of general practice in Australia.
“Under the changes, the RACGP will jointly manage a General Practice Training Advisory Committee to provide advice to government on GP training policy and delivery,” Dr Jones said.
“This will mean the RACGP will have direct involvement in the training program, including policy, appeals, accreditation and a more direct relationship with new regional training organisations which will deliver training.”
Dr Jones said the announcement was a positive outcome for the general practice profession but details surrounding the committee still needed to be determined.
“The RACGP welcomes a collaborative approach but questions the need for an additional two clinicians on the committee. There are already several clinicians at the table and a larger group does not always lead to better decision making. We look forward to the announcement of the chair and hope the committee can begin operations on May 1, 2015.
“Today’s announcement means that registrars, who are training to be GPs, their supervisors and the overall profession know what the future holds and can feel secure that future training programs will be led by the profession.”
Dr Jones said the arrangement would be on-par with the role undertaken by other specialty colleges, in that the new training organisations will perform delivery functions similar to those public hospitals provide for other specialties. Hospitals are funded by the Department of Health, as will be the new training providers.
The Federal Government also announced today new geographic boundaries for 11 training regions to deliver the Australian General Practice Training program from 2016.
“It is important these boundaries have been determined so that progress can be made in deciding the appointment of the new regional training organisations,” Dr Jones said.
“The RACGP is looking forward to working with the new training organisations and ensuring good outcomes for registrars, so that the future of general practice in Australia is secured.”
Dr Jones said the RACGP had been consulting with the Federal Government about general practice training since changes to the program were announced in the 2014 Budget.
“Since the changes were announced, the RACGP’s firm position has been that the new model must be led by the profession, ensuring GPs have a significant role over general practice training, standards and governance arrangements.
“While there is still much work to be done, I am confident that today’s announcement will help ensure the changes to general practice training will be as seamless as possible for registrars, supervisors and the profession,” Dr Jones said.