The RACGP welcomes the Final Report of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, which was released in March this year. The report makes a number of recommendations, some of which relate directly to accreditation and standards in general practice.
Recommendation 56 stipulates a ‘new primary care model to improve access’:
Commencing by no later than 1 January 2024, the Australian Government should implement a new voluntary primary care model for people receiving aged care.
The new primary care model will have a number of characteristics. One characteristic notable to our profession is that ‘general practices may, if they choose, apply to the Australian Government to become accredited aged care general practices’.
Supporting this, Recommendation 57 states that, ‘by 31 December 2021, the RACGP should amend its Standards for general practices to allow for accreditation of general practices which practise exclusively in providing primary health care to people receiving aged care in residential aged care facilities and in their own homes’.
We’re examining the impact of these recommendations on general practice and the sector more broadly.