RACGP PRESIDENT - Leading the way
Dr Frank R Jones has learnt a lot about the strength of his profession and his colleagues while serving as RACGP President.
Dr Frank R Jones has never lost sight of the most fundamental aspect of his vocation during his two years as President of the RACGP.
‘It’s my patients that have kept me grounded and as RACGP President I have always, in any discussion with a stakeholder or politician, put patients first,’ he told Good Practice. ‘If there is anything that affects the quality of care that we are able to provide as GPs, I think the President and the RACGP have to be advocating that for our patients.’
Dr Jones believes it has been his ability to always view himself as an everyday GP who is also President of Australia’s largest medical college – rather than the other way around – that has allowed him to provide the wider healthcare community with a greater level of insight into patients within the consulting room.
‘I am honoured to have sat on multiple healthcare committees and panels on behalf of the RACGP. And what I have brought when I sat on all of those panels with esteemed academics is that I have really made them think about the patient who is with me in my room,’ he said.
‘I have tended to use my patients as an example of what is actually happening in the real world so people [elsewhere in healthcare] could understand the impact on our communities and our patients.
‘I think I have been able to keep people on these panels grounded because I am and always will be a frontline GP.’
At the forefront
When he was first elected RACGP President in August 2014, Dr Jones made it clear that one of his most immediate goals was to increase people’s awareness of the importance of general practice and those who work within it.
‘Promoting and refining “brand GP” and “brand RACGP” is critical. I would like the RACGP to have an increased presence within the consultation room and within the practice,’ he told Good Practice shortly following his election in 2014.
Almost immediately after he was officially handed the baton by previous President Dr Liz Marles at GP14 in Adelaide, Dr Jones and many within the RACGP got to work on what would be a vital step toward his goal – the ‘Good GP’ campaign.
‘When I stood for President I wanted to raise the profile of general practice and of the RACGP and we have certainly started on that journey,’ he said. ‘There is no question that the Good GP campaign has played a large part in this.
‘We have increased our profile and people’s knowledge of our skill base, and we have raised our profile among our patients and communities, stakeholders, specialist colleagues and politicians.
‘I see the Good GP campaign as a stepping stone so that the RACGP can ultimately be advocating for its patients.’
The campaign involves practising GPs from all over Australia and is underscored by the evocative phrase, ‘The Good GP never stops learning’. Comprised of mainstream TV, cinema, digital and social media advertising, the campaign has served to highlight the value of general practice and the importance of education and development gained through membership and association with the RACGP.
All of which, Dr Jones reiterated, leads back to quality care and better patient outcomes.
‘That is why, in very simple terms, the RACGP has moved into the advocacy space with things like the Good GP campaign,’ he said. ‘We care about the quality and standard of care that we provide for our patients and our communities.’
The move towards advocacy and greater visibility was also underlined by the successful campaign against the Federal Government’s proposed $7 co-payment, against which the RACGP protested from its initial announcement in 2014 until its cancellation in early 2015.
‘General practice was galvanised in its opposition to the co-payment and the RACGP was instrumental in advocating on behalf of GPs and bringing about its termination,’ Dr Jones said. ‘The RACGP’s campaign against the co-payment was a great example of what the profession can accomplish when it comes together and its voice is heard.’
Dr Jones believes that the quality and standard of care fundamental to general practice requires Australian GPs to have an adequately funded profession now and in the future, which is one of the reasons he is so proud of the RACGP’s Vison for general practice and a sustainable healthcare system (the Vison) funding model.
‘One of the great achievements during my time as President has been – and this is not just me but many people in the RACGP – the creation of the Vision,’ he said. ‘I think this has been a milestone for the RACGP. There were no other players out there with any ideas about how general practice should be structured in the 21st century.’
Released in September 2015, the Vision outlines the key initiatives and investments required to improve and enhance the delivery of general practice patient services, including the concept of the ‘medical home’. The model has been well received in and out of the healthcare industry, with Federal Government’s Health Care Homes pilot, announced in March, sharing many similarities with the Vision.
‘It’s gratifying that so many parties have accepted the fantastic concept of the medical home,’ Dr Jones said. ‘The Primary Healthcare Advisory Group came out and endorsed our model, along with the Federal Government and the Federal Health Minister.
‘I think the Vision has been a really major success for the RACGP. We really need to keep that in focus and make sure those ideas and concepts are moved forward in a positive way.’
Challenges
While the Federal Government ultimately endorsed the Vision, its 2015 decision to freeze the indexation of the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) – followed by the two-year extension of the freeze announced in May’s federal budget – has represented one of the most difficult areas of Dr Jones’ time as RACGP President.
‘The freeze and its extension have been very unfortunate because we were just starting to talk about the long-term sustainability of general practice in Australia,’ he said.
‘Twenty-first century general practice has fantastic health outcomes and to do that we have created a very sophisticated infrastructure to ensure patient safety and quality health outcomes.
‘All of that obviously costs money and the freeze has really put those outcomes at risk. The freeze is going to make it difficult for some doctors to sustain quality care and, unfortunately, there may be some reduction in services.’
Faced with a threat to patients’ quality of care, Dr Jones became one of the public faces of the RACGP’s ‘You’ve been targeted’ awareness campaign, which informed the public of the freeze’s full repercussions with waiting-room posters, a patient fact sheet, and template letters to be sent to parliamentary candidates and local members.
The campaign also featured a series of TV advertisements and hundreds of news articles, and GPs were encouraged to spread the message on social media using the #youvebeentargeted hashtag.
Throughout the campaign, however, the RACGP never lost sight of its primary goal.
‘With the support of Council and the rest of the RACGP, I tried not to make this a political campaign, but a campaign in and around patient safety and patient outcomes,’ Dr Jones said.
‘I think we are a wealthy nation. We have to resource and make health accessible to all, and that is really what the campaign is all about; making sure people don’t defer going to see their doctor because of a cost implication.
‘Not only is that bad for an individual’s health, but also for the community and the health economy.
‘But unfreezing the freeze is not the whole answer. What we really want is a long-term, sustainable model of finance for general practice, because you get the best bang for your buck in general practice.
‘We want to keep people out of hospital, we want to keep them healthy and that is what GPs do.’
Looking to the future
Regardless of difficulties, Dr Jones describes Australia’s current general practice profession as being in ‘a very strong position’.
‘People are increasingly recognising the critical importance of a strong general practice system within the health community,’ he said.
‘Naturally, there are challenges, not least of which is a sustainable funding model, how we deal with the ageing population, how we deal with our patients who now have a different demography of health issues, of chronic disease, etc.
‘But, while there are some major challenges for GPs and our society in the 21st century, we have to have an open discussion about this and the RACGP has to be at the forefront.
‘I think the RACGP will continue to be, at its core, an academic college. It will continue looking after vital areas such as education, research, quality, standards, eHealth, and advocacy, all of which are increasingly important to us.
‘The RACGP will continue to advocate and work within those categories, and improve upon them.’
There are two issues in particular that Dr Jones believes will be vital to the future of general practice and the RACGP’s role within it.
‘I think research is critical for general practice,’ he said.
‘I think there is a huge opportunity for the RACGP to take the lead in the area of primary care general practice research.
‘The second thing I would like people to think about is identifying future leaders: how we identify them in general practice; how we make them welcome to the RACGP; and how we train them to be leaders, because for some people it doesn’t come naturally to be a leader.’
On a more personal level, Dr Jones is looking forward to having some more time available to his family and his patients following his term as RACGP President.
‘The first thing I am going to do is take a big breath in and take my wife out to dinner,’ he said.
‘I am also going to continue with my daily practice here in my hometown of Mandurah in Western Australia.
‘But I will still be contributing to the RACGP. It’s in my blood.’
Dr Jones described his time as RACGP President as an incredible privilege and honour, one in which he has met many ‘fantastic people’ within the college and throughout the profession.
‘I am so proud to be a GP surrounded by such fantastic colleagues,’ he said.
‘I would like to acknowledge the really excellent people who we have in the leadership team of the RACGP, as well as the staff members of the state faculties and at RACGP House in Melbourne.
‘All of the people who I come across in the RACGP have a passion for general practice.
‘It is an enormous privilege to be a GP and we should never forget that. It is an enormous privilege to look after people’s health and being a GP is the best of medical specialities.’
Welcome to the job
Outgoing RACGP President Dr Frank R Jones has some words of advice for incoming President, Tasmania’s Dr Bastian Seidel.
‘You have got to lead by example, you have to be collaborative, be able to listen. Sometimes you have to be firm and sometimes you actually have to be brave,’ he said.
‘Always keep your patients first and foremost, and remember it is the membership of the RACGP to whom you are actually accountable.’
Written by Paul Hayes. First published in Good Practice Issue 8 – August 2016 pp6-8.