Report highlights nine years of Medicare “neglect” – Reid

Member for Robertson Gordon Reid says the recent release of the Federal Government’s Strengthening Medicare Taskforce Report highlights the “neglect” of Medicare over the past nine years by the former Liberal Government.

“The release of the (report) has highlighted what nine years of neglect and mismanagement does to our health infrastructure,” Reid said.

“The report outlines that the former government’s freezing of the Medicare rebate for six years, cuts to healthcare, and lack of action to address low numbers of medical students selecting general practice have led to a decline in the rate of bulk billing, gap fees going up, and difficulties even getting in to see a doctor.

“I know first-hand, and continue to understand, the struggles people on the Central Coast are experiencing trying to access affordable healthcare.”

As a doctor, Reid has worked in hospital emergency departments in the region.

“People tell me often that they cannot access or afford to see a GP, and this is directly linked to the former government’s Medicare rebate freeze and its unwillingness to encourage more medical students to select general practice,” he said.

“Consequently, we then have more people presenting to emergency departments, over-stretching our hospital system.”
Reid said as the party which created Medicare, Labor was determined to protect and strengthen it.

“To start addressing these issues, the Government has allocated $750M to strengthen Medicare and give it much-needed resuscitation,” he said.

Reid said one important element would be the roll-out of Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, which will be bulk billed, open seven days, and have extended operating hours, with two pledged for the Central Coast – one in the south of the region and one in the north.

The report gives a raft of recommendations based around the core aims of increasing access to primary care, promoting team-based care, modernising primary care and supporting change management and cultural change.

Among key recommendations to improve access are: providing funding for longer GP consultations; strengthening relationships between GPs and care teams; developing new funding models for remote practices; investing in Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs); strengthening funding to support more affordable care, improving access to primary care in the after-hours period; and increasing the availability of primary care services for urgent care needs.

In the interests of promoting team-based care, recommendations include: fast-tracking the work to improve the supply and distribution of varied health care workers including GPs; working with states and territories to review barriers and incentives; and supporting local health system integration and person-centred care through Primary Health Networks (PHNs) working with hospitals, GPS, pharmacies and other health bodies.

To modernise primary care, the report recommends: modernising the My Health Record to increase the health information available; better connecting health data across all parts of the health system; investing in better health data for research and evaluation of models of care; providing more primary care IT infrastructure, education and support; and making it easier for Australians to access, manage, understand and share their own health information.

The report also recommends: putting consumers and communities at the centre of primary care policy design and delivery; learning from both international and local best practice, and investing in research on primary care excellence; working with providers to help them effectively manage change and transition to new ways of working; supporting the continued development of practice management as a profession; and implementing  a staged approach to reform.

Terry Collins