The first, comprehensive snapshot of general practice in Australia has highlighted the positive impact female GPs are having on the health of the nation.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners’ benchmark annual report, General Practice: Health of the Nation 2017, has found that female GPs are playing a decisive role in preventative healthcare.
RACGP President Dr Bastian Seidel said; “the 2017 report has identified psychological ailments and obesity as Australians' biggest health problems and female GPs are taking a leading role in tackling these issues.”
Psychological ailments are the most common issues GPs manage with female GPs (68%) being more likely to report this than their male counterparts (53%).
Female GPs are also more likely to mention mental health (59% versus 37%) and obesity (49% versus 36%) as issues causing them concern for the future.
“Female patients are also visiting their GP more frequently than male patients,” Dr Seidel said.
“Over 81% of female patients and 73% of male patients have a regular GP.
“People who see their regular GP are less likely to need expensive emergency department or hospital care.”
“When it comes to the general practice workforce, despite the increase in the number of female GPs, the average number of female GPs working full time in a practice is almost half that of male GPs.
“The report also shows that the future workforce is likely to include an even larger proportion of female GPs.
“This is because 14% of respondents will retire in the next 5 years and male GPs make up a significantly larger proportion of this group.”
The findings follow the news earlier this year that the number of female RACGP members has almost doubled since 2008 and there are now more female than male members.
“The growing number of women in general practice is also reflected in the RACGP’s leadership positions, with women making up 48 per cent of RACGP expert committees and 41 per cent of its Council membership,” Dr Seidel said.
“This compares very well to other medical colleges and other parts of the professional workforce.
“The current percentage of women on the ASX top 200 boards is just 25.3%.
“We’ve been working hard for equal representation in our membership and our leadership bodies.
“The 2017 report findings suggests this is now benefiting the health of patients and the health of the nation.”
Visit the RACGP website to read General Practice: Health of the Nation.