If ever we needed to see what the agenda of the College of GPs (and some of the existing Board members of the Divisions of General Practice) has been in their submissions for ownership of the Medicare Locals, this Media Release spells it out emphatically - "We intend to maintain control because none other than a medical practitioner can do the job of running the Medicare Local".
Local allied health practitioners and community members with health and/or business acumen should be champing at the bit to ensure that they can rein in the entrepreneurial plans of this Juggernaut.
The only way to provide the diverse, effective and efficient community based health services to the Southern Highlands is for the community members delivering and receiving those services to have equality in the decision making of their Medicare Local. Only then will the Vision of the Bankstown Health Coalition be able to be replicated in the Southern Highlands.
7 November 2011
Medicare Locals – GPs must retain a strong leadership role
To avoid fragmentation of patient healthcare, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) urges the Government to consult closely with the medical profession as it progresses the establishment of Medicare Locals.
On Friday, the Minister for Health and Ageing released a list of 38 organisations that have been selected to become the next Medicare Locals.
RACGP President Professor Claire Jackson said that Medicare Locals will have a broader focus than their predecessor Divisions of General Practice, and whilst this should provide a greater opportunity for integrated team based care, it is essential that GPs retain strong leadership roles, and that the general practice is seen as the patient's community healthcare home.
“Quality general practice is the foundation of primary care and must be the basis of Medicare Locals. Our focus needs to remain on enhancement of services to the patient and the community taking care to avoid fragmentation,” she said.
The College is pleased that Minister Roxon acknowledged the importance of ‘GPs and general practice being at the centre of a strong, integrated primary healthcare system’ and the need to ‘build on the excellent work already done by the local Divisions of General Practice’.
“The RACGP believes it is important we remain included in the discussions around the development of each of these organisations and we urge members to remain involved so that general practice continues to be the cornerstone of reform.
“It is likely that the governance of a Medicare Local will be through a skills based board rather than representative based board. GPs with such skills are encouraged to apply and have a voice,” Professor Jackson concluded.
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