No more paperwork, please

No more paperwork, please

Removing the burden of unnecessary paperwork is a small, but important way to recognise the value general practitioners provide.

IN RECENT MONTHS, the absolute crisis in general practice workforce seems to be everywhere. For those involved in health policy, this is no surprise at all. The long-term impacts of endless freezes to rebates have resulted in a collapse of applications into general practice, particularly rural training pathways. As we all know, only 14% of medical graduates are going into general practice. There are so many things that need to change for general practice to be recognised as the valuable and rewarding speciality it is. Some of those things are hard and require much needed investment. However, some other things could be more easily managed if we just looked at the administrative burden facing GPs. 

Not surprisingly, general practitioners hold a position of significant trust in the community and are therefore asked to certify a significant number of conditions or government requirements. I was reminded of this burden by a recent Twitter comment by a GP who expressed irritation about patients who wave a form for signing on their way out the door. I fully understood the frustrations of the hard-working GP. However, I also understand the difficulty for patients because the burden of form filling is something I know from the other side.

My family, like many others, includes a person with a disability, in our case, autism. Around one in six Australians has a disability, with one in three of those having a significant disability. Having a family member with a disability can bring incredible joy but it also brings many challenges in accessing services. Our family is incredibly fortunate to have sufficient resources and connections within the health system. We have a wonderful GP, who works around challenges such as annual vaccinations, a great paediatrician, and other excellent supportive healthcare. Despite all of this, I dread every time we need to front up with yet another form to be signed or report to be written to prove what we already know. 

My frustration over this issue came to a head recently when we were turned away from our passport application with the requirement that we have a doctor certify that she could not sign a passport application. Putting aside the wisdom of our national security system relying on the signatures of a 12-year-old child, this is yet another instance in which we have to waste time and effort to justify a disability and a situation that will not change. We are very fortunate that with lots of effort and support, there are many things our SuperGirl will be able to do in her life – signing her name is unlikely to be one of them, now or in the future.   

I realised that in being angry about this that someone should really do something about it and realised that I probably was the someone who should. So, while we fight to improve the standing and support of GPs in many other ways, we will also be doing what we can to fight the demeaning burden of unnecessary paperwork.