Skip to main content RSS Info Close Search Facebook Twitter
Location
Category
Providers / Vacancies
Feedback

AMA says time for aged care to come out of the ‘policy inertia zone’

The Australian Medical Association (AMA), has urged the Government to address the policy inertia that continues to restrict medical services for the care of sick and frail residents of aged care homes.

AMA President, Dr Rosanna Capolingua, warned that GP services to residents in aged care homes were under growing pressure.

She said GPs were continually frustrated by the barriers that prevented constant medical care from being delivered to residents of aged care homes.

As part of ‘General Practice Week’, the peak medical body is calling for the Federal Government to bring aged care out of the ‘policy inertia zone’, as the medical needs of older Australians became more complex and numerous.

“Successive governments have done little to actively involve medical care in the daily operations of aged care homes – it’s time for the Government to take action,” Dr Capolingua said.

“We need to see policies that will effectively bring medical care to frail and sick residents in a timely and suitable manner.

“Older Australians should continue to have access to a range of quality medical services, as it’s a time in their lives when they need them most.”

The AMA is calling for aged care policies that:

  • Introduce dedicated Medicare payments that improve access to GPs and medical specialists for older Australians;
  • Enable more GPs to use general practice nurses to assist in the delivery of care in residential and community settings;
  • Increase recurrent funding for community and residential aged care to meet the real costs of care;
  • Adopt strategies that lead to wage parity between the acute and aged care sectors, to encourage skilled nurses back into the sector, with the capacity to deliver quality aged care services; and
  • Improve clinical management and the delivery of care in the residential aged care sector, by introducing computer systems that facilitate medical records and prescribing, and which connect the GP to the residential aged care facility and the pharmacy.

Share this article

Read next

Subscribe

Subscribe to our Talking Aged Care newsletter to get our latest articles, delivered straight to your inbox
  1. Eighty years after getting married, this couple lives together...
  2. Who says your age should limit your dreams?
  3. Data from a recently released report highlights a concerning...
  4. With an ageing and growing population, data from the...
  5. Approximately 411,000 Australians are estimated to be living...
  6. How could you benefit from attending university as an older...

Recent articles

  1. Valentine’s Day may have come and gone, but after six or...
  2. What is a lesser known impact of hearing loss for older...
  3. Are there options for older Australians to live in the same...
  4. The new initiative brings older Aussies together to see the...
  5. A collaboration between Dementia Australia and VistaPrint...
  6. How can you look after yourself during the expected heatwaves...
  7. How is an interactive app being used in aged care settings to...
  8. How could the upcoming strengthening of super standards save...
  9. Brother Thomas Oliver Pickett, a Western Australian volunteer,...
  10. Why is an illegal website targeting older Australians?
  11. Eighty years after getting married, this couple lives together...
  12. How does heart health impact your risk of dementia?
  1. {{ result.posted_at | timeago }}

Sorry, no results were found
Perhaps you misspelled your search query, or need to try using broader search terms.
Please type a topic to search
Some frequently searched topics are "dementia", "elderly" etc
Close