The Federal Government’s per-patient spending on general practice has fallen from $460 to $420 in one year, which an expert says reflects not just the bulk-billing crash but more patients not seeing a GP at all.

The figure, which is adjusted for inflation, rose from $418 in 2014-15 to $465 in 2020-21, according to the Productivity Commission’s annual report on government services.

But after dipping to $461 in 2021-22, it plummeted to $420 in the most recent financial year.

Peter Breadon, the Health Program Director of Melbourne’s Grattan Institute, said it reflected GPs providing fewer overall services under Medicare amid rapid inflation, population growth and a shift to private billing.