Emerging issues for patients and the health system

GPs are often the first point of contact for people seeking medical care. As such, they offer unique insights into the issues impacting both patient outcomes and the wider health system.

The most common health system concerns for GPs were workloads, patient access to healthcare, and health system fragmentation (Figure 17). This mirrors patient experiences across the health system, with 40% of patients indicating they are not confident navigating the health system.⁶

The proportion of GPs nominating Medicare and GP remuneration as an issue dropped from 17% to 8%, potentially reflecting the funding provided for general practice in the 2023–24 Federal Budget. Concerns about patient financial issues, however, remain relatively high among GPs. As shown in Figure 17, it was the fourth highest issue of concern in 2024, likely reflecting ongoing cost-of-living challenges across Australia.   

Regarding patient conditions, mental health remains the most mentioned concern, followed by chronic illness and obesity and lifestyle issues (Figure 18). This aligns with the earlier finding that mental health remains the most common reason for patients presenting to general practices.