One of the aged care facilities where I see residents has a car space under a shady tree reserved for doctors.

It seems a welcoming gesture until you return to find your car covered in bird droppings — an apt allegory for how many GPs feel they are regarded within the residential aged care system. 

The recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety have resulted in much tighter compliance requirements, with no real opportunity for dissent or negotiation.

It’s harder than ever for GPs to provide adequate medical care to RACF residents, with my colleagues increasingly disinclined to offer their services.