This year, Dr Raymond Wong and his staff went through the stresses and strains of accreditation — that process designed to give patients, and the wider community, confidence in the quality of care being provided by GP practices.

Based in Sydney, his clinic bulk-bills the disadvantaged, provides aged care visits, supervises students and supports patients with disabilities, including those living in group homes.

And over 30 years, he has never failed accreditation before — until this year when, following the onsite visit by Australian General Practice Accreditation Limited (AGPAL) accreditors, he was told his practice had failed to meet 32 of the 113 mandatory indicators.

He was not happy and felt the findings had been “harsh and disproportionate”, but with only a few weeks to agree to the follow-up visit to check the issues had been fixed, he let it pass.