DOCTORS are celebrating a ‘win’ following clarification from the federal Department of Health that it will not make changes affecting their capacity to bulk bill patients assessed by general practice nurses.The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners says the Department of Human Services’ Medicare website has been ‘updated’ following an outcry from GPs concerned they could no longer provide Medicare rebates for health assessments done by nurses in their clinics.
College President, Dr Liz Marles, said many GPs and their nursing staff feared the impact of reduced funding of nurses as part of the medical team.
As reported in the Newcastle Herald on Wednesday, those concerns were shared by Hunter Medicare Local.
The contribution of nurses are especially valued by GPs in the Hunter region which has historically endured GP shortages relative to the rest of the nation, with ratios in some areas as low as one doctor for 2000 people compared with a benchmark of one to 1400 people.
Dr Sales said that traditionally, the time nurses spent on the assessments would be added to the GP’s time when deciding whether to bill for a brief, standard, long or prolonged consultation.
Hunter Medicare Local board member and GP Dr Milton Sales said those patients were typically bulk billed, meaning the nurse’s activity would have become unfunded.
‘‘We have over 300 nurses working in general practice, which based on per capita basis, is one of the highest rates in the country,’’ he said.
‘‘Any changes that affect the viability of nurses working in general practice will reduce services to our patients.’’