The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) welcomes the Australian Government’s investment through the National Health and Medical Research Council, together with the Victoria Government, on an imaging and therapy beamline at the Australian Synchrotron in Melbourne.
“As with many new technologies coming on line in the medical field, GPs are excited by the opportunities that will be provided by the Australian Synchrotron. We recognise the signal this investment sends of the government’s commitment to ensuring access to high quality medical technologies,” said Dr Chris Mitchell, RACGP President and rural GP.
“Unfortunately at this point in time the Australian Government has put on hold previous plans to allow access to more than $13 million in funding that would have provided for GPs to refer patients directly for Medicare rebate eligible MRI scans.
“The RACGP has long been concerned by this approach. General practice is on the frontline of delivering care in our communities and GPs are often the first point of contact that patients have with the health system. GPs are well trained and highly competent in using high quality, high technology diagnostic tools.
“The exclusion of GP access to MRI results in additional needless costs in our health system and presents barriers to patients accessing this technology that can play a key part in their care.
“The RACGP wants to see the Australian Government adopt an approach that benefits our patients and respects the training, skills and experience of Australia’s highly competent GPs.”
About the RACGP
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) is responsible for maintaining standards for quality clinical practice, education and training, and research in Australian general practice. The RACGP represents the majority of Australia’s urban and rural general practitioners.
Source
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners