GP workforce numbers collapse to five-year low, report reveals
Australia had 29,215 FTE GPs in 2023, the lowest number since 2018 and the fewest FTE GPs per patient since 2015, the Productivity Commission has…
Tag: Policy
Clinical independence under threat from ‘vertically integrated’ cannabis companies, doctors tell Mark Butler
Doctor and pharmacy groups have suggested banning medicinal cannabis companies from simultaneously owning clinics and dispensaries, saying doctors’ independence is at stake. AMA Queensland and…
Do NSW psychiatrists deserve a 25% pay rise? Here’s my take as an emergency doctor
Watching from afar, the new US regime’s changes to the management of healthcare, superimposed on an already dysfunctional system, elicit a sense of foreboding. The…
Headspace cannot provide the ‘substantive clinical care’ that most of its patients need, say researchers
Three-quarters of Headspace patients require substantive medical care, yet the service lacks doctors and instead focuses on brief psychological interventions, say researchers including Professor Ian…
New figures show Pharmacy Guild donated over $400,000 to political parties
The Pharmacy Guild of Australia has again demonstrated it is one of the biggest political forces in Australia, mixing with billionaires Anthony Pratt and Gina…
Medicare to clamp down on telehealth claims by nurse practitioners
The Federal Government is finally planning to enforce Medicare’s ‘existing relationship’ telehealth rule for nurse practitioners, but not until November. The rule means that a…
Review board to examine suicides of eight patients who were rejected for VAD
Eight suicides by patients denied access to voluntary assisted dying are being examined by the Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board in Victoria, which could trigger…
Tapentadol the most used opioid in Australia, study finds
Tapentadol has overtaken oxycodone as the most prescribed opioid in Australia, according to research that shows its use increased fivefold between 2015 and 2022. The…
State government reveals GP payroll tax exemption
The Queensland Government has introduced draft laws to make GPs’ ‘wages’ completely exempt from payroll tax. After a multi-year saga of state tax collectors trying…
GPs failed to claim $140 million in Butler’s tripled bulk-billing incentives
GPs missed out on $140 million in a year by not claiming new tripled bulk-billing incentives on eligible consultations, the Department of Health and Aged…
