Patients are happy with their family doctor
The first comprehensive national survey of general practice patients has found that 88% of people have a usual family doctor and 83% of people are very satisfied or satisfied with the medical care they receive.
Essential Research conducted the survey for the Australian Medical Association (AMA) during January 2010. There were 1,510 respondents.
AMA president, Dr Andrew Pesce, said the survey confirms that Australians rate their family doctor as the most important part of the health system.
“The health reform debate to date has been focussed on hospitals,” Dr Pesce said.
“It is time now for policies that respond to what patients really want – access to a family doctor of their choice.
“The family doctor is the first point of contact in the health system for the vast majority of Australian families.
“The family doctor must remain the foundation of our health system.
“People want a usual family doctor and they want to be able to spend more time with that doctor when they or a family member are ill or seeking advice about their health.
“The Government must demonstrate in its primary care policy and in the May Budget that it will provide more support and greater incentives for family doctors to allow them to continue serving their communities and to attract more doctors into general practice.
“This means cutting red tape and providing greater support for longer consultations, improving infrastructure in general practice, and more general practice nurses.
“We must build on what works and what is trusted, and that is the special relationship between patients and their usual general practitioner – their family doctor.
“As well as the welcome focus on improving hospitals, more needs to be done for medical care in the community to keep people out of hospital – and family doctors are the key to this objective,” Dr Pesce said.
Dr Pesce said the AMA has initiated the ‘Support Family Doctors’ campaign to ensure that governments and the public remained aware of the importance of family doctors to the Australian health system and to the local communities they serve.
