Albanese Government on notice over damning GP research

It’s becoming clear how badly the Albanese Government is letting Tasmanians down on primary healthcare and GP access. 
 
Newly-released Cleanbill research reveals Tasmania’s bulk billing rate plunged more than 5 per cent to less than 1 per cent – by far the worst rate in the country – between 2023 and 2024. 
 
Canberra’s neglect of primary health has reached the point where we’ve had to repeatedly intervene to alleviate federal under-resourcing – most recently brokering arrangements to keep GP clinics operating in Bridgewater and St Marys.
 
What’s more, the average out-of-pocket cost to see a GP in Tasmania soared 8.5 per cent to nearly $52 – the highest in Australia. 
 
“We’ve been relentless in our push to ensure Tasmanians have access to the right healthcare services, at the right place and right time,” said Acting Health Minister Felix Ellis. 
 
“In contrast, despite Rebecca White having a direct line to Canberra so her ex-union bosses can tell her what to do, State Labor has offered no meaningful contribution to this unacceptable situation.
 
“Having access to general practitioners is crucial for the health and wellbeing of Tasmanians.
 
“We know that increased demand on our emergency departments is often due to difficulty in accessing timely and affordable primary health care.”
 
About 40 per cent of presentations to the emergency departments are semi-urgent or non-urgent, often more appropriately treated by a GP or other primary health services.
 
The lack of GP access and rising costs are driving Tasmanians to our hospital emergency departments for non-urgent issues. December’s Report on the Tasmanian Population Health Survey 2022 illustrated that 11 per cent of Tasmanians named up cost as the main reason for not attending a GP when they needed to. 
 
While we have worked with the Federal Government to deliver Urgent Care Clinics in Hobart, Launceston and Devonport as well as our innovative single-employer model for GP trainees, the Rockliff Liberal Government is putting Labor on notice that it needs to drastically lift its game on broken Medicare GP funding.