AMA Victoria has called for a royal commission into the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including looking into the role of GPs in the crisis.

Branch president Associate Professor Julian Rait says the current inquiry set up by the Victorian government to identify errors in the state’s hotel quarantine system is not broad ranging enough.

A royal commission with powers to hold public hearings, call witnesses under oath and compel evidence is a big step, but one the AMA “thinks will be necessary to really get to the bottom of what’s gone wrong”.

Doing so quickly would also enable commissioners to make interim recommendations to inform the state’s pandemic responses going forward.