workforce
How GPs feel about visiting RACFs
Most GPs enjoy caring for residents, but many are discouraged by the“ unnecessary bureaucracy”.
Russell Pearson interviewed by Dallas Bastian
No nursing home visits! This line struck Dr Russell Pearson as he was reading an advertisement for practices looking for GPs, as it was put forward as an incentive for jobseekers.
“ I was astonished,” Pearson said.“ It made me wonder had the people writing the ads accurately captured the mood of Australian GPs?”
Pearson, who is a clinical associate professor at the University of Wollongong’ s School of Medicine and a practising GP, and his team spoke with GPs and GP registrars working in rural and regional NSW, using focus group discussions and one-on-one interviews.
The researchers found that GPs generally enjoyed caring for residents of nursing homes and felt it to be an integral part of general practice.
“ It’ s part of your duty of care to look after them,” said one participant.
Despite this generally sunny outlook, the study discovered that many GPs found visiting RACFs a frustrating experience.
“ The overwhelming finding was the frustration that engaged GPs experienced in their visits. For many GPs, the experience of visiting RACFs was one of hide and seek: seeking out the patient, the nurse, their notes and medication charts,” Pearson said.
GPs also believed the work was poorly remunerated compared to the work they undertook at their surgery.
Aged Care Insite spoke with Pearson about the other barriers to RACF visits highlighted in the study and ways to improve the relationship between GPs and nursing homes.
ACI: Currently, where do we stand in terms of the number of GPs providing care in RACFs? RP: Well, there was some research in 2002 that suggested that only about 50 per cent of GPs visited aged care facilities. There was a heavy reliance at that stage on older male GPs. Although, more female GPs were engaging in RACF work compared to the early study, they were seeing fewer patients.
Although there’ s been no formal research looking at those numbers that I’ m aware of since, the impression is that it’ s still about 50 per cent. People involved in this area regard that as likely to be the case. However, research published in 2015 revealed that 230 early-career GPs were surveyed, and only about 40 per cent of those were engaged in nursing home visits.
When you combine that apparent disengagement of GPs from doing residential aged care visiting with the demographic changes that are going to see the number of Australians living in RACFs grow from a current 230,000 to an estimated 700,000 by 2050, we have a potentially serious problem with sustaining our GP / RACF workforce.
GPs you spoke with said they enjoy visiting RACFs. What were some of the positives in their eyes? Some of the positives included being able to be involved in the care of patients from cradle to grave. They said it was nice to be able to continue to care for their elderly patients when they needed to go into RACFs. It was nice to be able to still be there for them. Many of the GPs who are actually engaged in the work expressed enjoyment in it.
The other attitude they expressed was that they felt it was the proper role of general practice. They thought it was integral to
32 agedcareinsite. com. au