22 OPINION
22 OPINION
8 NOVEMBER 2024 ausdoc . com . au
Insight
Is 25 a day too many ?
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Medicare was never designed |
it does not look like the BMA |
teaching , I know of no other pro- |
But please tell us , how can we |
Dr Craig Lilienthal GP and medicolegal adviser in Sydney , NSW . |
for this care , and it has long been said , with little effect , it is no longer fit for purpose .
The shortage of GPs will only
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has any better ideas on how we should be paid appropriately for our efforts than the AMA and Medicare . |
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fession where society expects , nay demands , such a ridiculous commitment to the cause .
Our junior doctors are but fod- improve standards and look after ourselves ?
When will those of us left working in healthcare be able exacerbate the problem . However , the nub of the
der for the public health system to work sensible occupation-
I want rules restricting the number of patients we see .
However , longer consultations should improve patient outcomes and protect us from burnout . Yes , it costs to provide good-quality medicine , and
BMA ’ s call is directed at patient safety and physician welfare — two concepts we should all be supporting .
Apart from nursing and
and shitkickers for their consultants ’ excessive workloads .
For those readers who still think I am a slack-arsed old fart , go ahead and criticise .
al-health-and-safety hours and be paid sufficiently to be able to maintain professional standards without sacrificing our own healthcare ?
THE British Medical Association is currently recommending that GPs in Britain increase the average length of their consultations from 10 minutes to a “ whopping ” 15 minutes and restrict the number of patients they consult each day to 25 .
This is designed to improve patient safety and reduce the risk of doctor burnout .
Yes , this is about professional
standards and physician welfare .
A few years ago , in an article I wrote about professional standards , I said the 80 / 20 rule threshold was a joke and that , while practitioners could see 80 patients a day , they could not treat 80 patients a day .
I also mentioned that the AMA had initially mooted a 50 / 20 rule but that this was howled down by some of its members .
No wonder the AMA has not come out with similar guidelines to those being promoted by the British Medical Association ( BMA ).
Reader engagement to that article , as measured by the number of published comments , was a record number for me at the time , with most calling me a slack-arsed bastard who did not know how to work hard .
I can counter this by saying , in my heyday as a young and enthusiastic rural GP , I was exhausted seeing and doing my best for 35 patients a day . This came after doing my early-morning hospital rounds , a few house calls and the occasional delivery .
Now , as a late-career doctor , I can deal properly with between 17 and 20 patient consultations in a six-hour shift , and I do this three days a week .
I repeat , there is no way a GP can properly assess and treat six patients an hour without letting their professional standards slip .
Yes , I know , at bulk-billing rates , we would all go broke very quickly under the BMA ’ s recommendation for 15-minute consultations .
This article is not about money ; it is about standards and self-preservation . Your health is paramount . Those practising six-minute medicine can do little more than superficially address the patient ’ s presenting symptoms .
There is no time to try to understand what might be behind the presenting symptoms and certainly no time to explore other matters , such as mental health , workplace stressors , domestic violence or preventive healthcare problems .