There is literally no money in treating chronic wounds for Dr Michelle Barrett, but it’s an area of her clinical care that remains a point of professional pride.

A former army doctor whose service included six months of treating survivors of the Rwandan genocide, her GP practice has for 20 years been the place to go for Canberra’s military veterans and their families.

The former soldiers have various lingering injuries requiring weekly applications of specialised dressings.

But with concessional prescriptions from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA), their care isn’t causing the practice the financial and ethical headaches that arise with her other patients.