GPSA Chair Report – May 2023

It just gets busier!
Hi all, Carla and I have been very busy again since my pre-Easter report, but all the hard work is definitely paying off!

As mentioned in the previous few months, we have been meeting with various states and territories to insert the argument for quality supervision into their individual plans for Single Employer Model (SEM) pilots. With every jurisdiction doing things differently, we continue to have a particular affinity with the Tasmanian model, which is very strongly rooted in the goal of supporting the private model of general practice over increasing their numbers of hospital employees.

The Tasmanian team is even considering our preferred model, where the registrar might complete GPT1-2 (or RG equivalent) under the state Single Employer then transition to practice employment governed by the NTCER, allowing access to earnings against billings only when they have had time to acclimatise to the general practice environment and gained an understanding of how to bill correctly, etc. We have also floated this option by a number of sector stakeholders, government representatives from NT, WA and Queensland, and have started working with ACRRM to explore potential for other options to give senior RG registrars greater flexibility than traditional practice-based employment allows at the tail end of their training.

What seems key at present is that alternate models of registrar employment are coming, and we need to be open to ideas that may well change what we have built our business models around as training practice owners. Not all change is detrimental… But we are working very very hard to ensure that we as a community of practice have visibility over and a prominent voice in any decisions leading to change for our sector.

I implore you to please maximise the opportunities we offer for you to have a say in all that’s happening around us in the GP training landscape. Activate your free membership to the GPSA Community Platform and join a Community Group (or 10)! Take a few minutes to complete the National Supervision Survey, which feeds into our work on Advisory Councils for the Workforce Planning and Prioritisation organisations across the country as well as guiding our research, education and advocacy priorities. It is so important that we all contribute to the findings of this important survey. You can read more about this here or contact our Director of Research & Policy, Dr Samia Toukhsati, with any queries here.

GPSA is committed to supporting the people and businesses that underpin the future of primary healthcare in this country. We are a sector conduit, a driver of innovation and quality, and an advocate for respect and recognition for this community. GPSA is not a group of Board members or the small team of employees who deliver educational interventions and resources, members supports, research and policy. GPSA is the community we serve… So don’t be a stranger!