This was published 7 years ago
GPs call for crackdown on booming out-of-hours doctor services
By Rania Spooner
General practitioners want out-of-hours doctor services reined in over fears the booming sector is compromising quality and squandering scarce public health funding.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners has called for after-hours services to be formally linked to clinics and to only see patients needing urgent care.
Fairfax Media revealed in May that GPs were increasingly concerned companies were taking advantage of generous rebates for after hours visits and using inexperienced junior doctors to drive profits.
The rebate for after-hours visits classified as "urgent" is $130 to $150, compared to $55 for a non-urgent visit or $36 for a standard visit in a doctor's surgery.
Department of Health data shows $195 million was billed to the Medicare Benefits Schedule for urgent after-hours visits in 2015, compared to $90.8 million in 2010.
The college wants patients to access out-of-hours doctors through their GP and for a summary of the clinical management of a patient to be sent to the GP the next morning.
It is also calling for advertising of out-of-hours services direct to patients to stop and for the qualification benchmark for deputised GPs to be raised.
College president Frank Jones said the release of its position paper followed consultation with GPs over "the dramatic rise in the use of after hours item numbers".
"Many issues of concern were identified by practicing GPs, especially around quality clinical assessment and continuity of care, as the patients' normal treating doctor often receives variable and limited information about their patients' after-hours visit," he wrote in a message to college members.
"Feedback also indicated disquiet around the quality of information conveyed by some providers when advertising their service."
The National Association for Medical Deputising, which represents most out-of-hours doctors, supported the push for closer ties to patients' GPs and for deputised services to be affiliated with an established practice.
However, it has raised concerns about "some elements of the position paper which would artificially restrict patient choice and limit the ability of deputising services to raise awareness of their availability".
Association president Ben Keneally, who is also the chief executive of the National Home Doctor Service, said increased awareness of out-of-hours services has not lead to people using the system inappropriately.
"We strongly support the view that Medical Deputising Services should work in support of General Practice," he said.
"Up until recently, awareness of Deputising was very low and patients were more likely to present to Emergency Departments with urgent but low acuity conditions.
"Increased awareness has not caused inappropriate use - total after hours calls in Australia represent less than two after hours calls per GP per week - an entirely appropriate level of utilisation."
Last week, the association released new guidance to members in response to industry concerns that some services were competing with GPs and operating outside the definition of a medical deputising service.
"We look forward to working with the RACGP now that they have released this position paper to jointly address legitimate concerns and also address misapprehensions," Mr Keneally said.