Adequacy of Australia.

ConclusionsThe number of GP clinical hours worked decreased, and clinical demand increased. Ongoing efforts are required to ensure the supply of GPs to meet the clinical demand of Australia's aging population.What is known about this topic?For the past three decades there has been concern about the supply of GPs in Australia. In recent years the Australian Government has taken several steps to improve access to GP services by increasing the overall supply of GPs and encouraging a more even distribution of GPs across Australia. A 2011 Australian study calculated average annual GP service utilisation and predicted the number of GPs required to meet clinical demand to 2020. There are current concerns that the GP workforce has reached a state of oversupply.What does this paper add?This study concludes that the GP workforce is not in a state of oversupply, confirming that patient clinical demand increased through both population growth and the aging of the population. Although the number of GPs increased, the number of clinical hours worked by (male) GPs decreased. Therefore, the rise in the number of GPs did not result in a proportional rise in GP workforce capacity. Clearly standardised definitions and inclusions for counting the GP workforce would improve accuracy in measuring this section of the health workforce.What are the implications for practitioners?GP workforce supply will require ongoing monitoring over coming years considering the increasing population, the aging of t...

Source: Australian Health Review - October 22, 2019 Category: Hospital Management Authors: Dingwall S, Henderson J, Britt H, Harrison C Tags: Aust Health Rev Source Type: research