What Gifts are in store for GP Supervisors this year?

We wonder every year whether GP Supervisors will receive some welcome recognition and reward for the work put into teaching the next generation of family doctors. Some 58 of our valued members will receive a Recognition of Service Award for 10 or more years of service to their communities as GP supervisors – training the next generation of family doctors. The joint GPSA RACGP initiative is an important contrast to ‘GP Supervisor of the Year’ awards which tend to single one supervisor out of the thousands that train GP registrars nationally each week.

We thank each and every one of you for the time, passion and commitment you all bring to this demanding, but also intrinsically rewarding role. Without a doubt 2016 was a year of significant change. While it hasn’t been without its trials, we’re mostly intact and continuing to train students and registrars to meet Australia’s future workforce needs. The excellent teaching and mentoring GP supervisors provide will directly influence the cost and quality of health care services over the next 30 years.

There are some worrying signs GP Supervisors will keep an eye on in the new year, but in the spirit of the festive season we focus on the GP Supervisor wish-list for gifts we would dearly love to see at the foot of the GP Supervisor Christmas Tree:

• 1) Unfreeze medicare rebates
• 2) Ensure revalidation is practical and evidence based
• 3) Invest in profession led changes to MBS, Health Care Homes and GP Training
• 4) Commit to retention of the apprenticeship model
• 5) Commit to continued support for GP Supervisors
• 6) Commit to continued support for rural and remote GP workforce strategies
• 7) Increased government awareness of the risks relating to co-funding thought bubbles that some lobbyist groups are proposing.
• 8) Ensure any future co-funded GP training model appropriately manages the risks to patients, registrars and supervisors.
• 9) Ensure an appropriate use of after hours item numbers by after-hours deputising services. Inappropriate use of item numbers 597 and 599’s are driving the cost of Medicare up and not reducing the burden of emergency care presentations in hospital Emergency departments.
• 10) Close scrutiny of any pharmacy lobbyist group requesting the delivery of what is traditional GP care in pharmacies. Looking especially at safety, quality and privacy issues.
• 11) A re-examination of the pathology rent issue.
• 12) Increased professional involvement with under and post graduate medical training in rural areas addressing workforce issues.
• 13) Commitment to working with the profession in 2017 on important reforms.

We are all past believing in Santa Clause delivering everything on the wish-list. We would like to think that all of these items are achievable for a happier and healthier 2017. History shows GP Supervisors are patient creatures… I wonder will we see any presents under the GP Supervisor Christmas Tree this year? We can only hope.

Merry Christmas everyone and we look forward to supporting you throughout 2017.

Sincerely,

Dr Steve Holmes