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A call to arms against war on red tape (Medical Observer, opinion)
By Dr Harry Hemley. 13 March 2009.
Australian GPs are drowning in bureaucratic red tape, resulting in countless hours of extra unpaid paperwork and hundreds of patients missing out on care every day.
Doctors around the country are constantly looking for ways to improve administration processes and increase efficiencies to free up time to spend with their patients – but despite these efforts, the various layers of government continue to dump form after form on GPs.
Six years ago the Productivity Commission deemed the cost of regulatory burden on general practice to be more than $13,000 per GP, per year. Since then we have seen some acknowledgement of the problem, but very few solutions.
That’s why AMA Victoria is declaring war on general practice red tape in 2009. We invite all general practitioners and practice staff to join the battle at www.waronredtape.com.au .
When it comes to forms, the comment I hate hearing most is: "just do it in your spare time Doc." And who will actually be paying for this spare time? Nobody!
’Just one small form’ we are told. ‘It won’t take up much time’ we are told. Well, there is a final straw. When dozens of agencies are all adding to the regulation, the red tape, the bureaucracy, the load on GPs becomes too much.
I get seriously annoyed by official forms which are poorly constructed. Two examples that come immediately to mind are the Department of Human Services’ Housing relocation form on medical grounds, and the Victorian Taxi Directorate’s application form for a taxi subsidy card. The latter is a beauty — two forms totalling 25 pages.
I love that I have to explain my diagnosis and treatment plan to the Victorian Taxi Directorate. I’m sure that fine organisation has dozens of medical advisers working through the forms from GPs and second-guessing our diagnoses. Or perhaps the onerous administrative burden for GPs and patients is just a form of rationing, designed to deny benefits to those who need them?
There are Centrelink forms — just hope you are using the latest version. New onerous death certificate forms — cleverly designed in a trifold paper that is impossible to fax. The Royal District Nursing Service and aged care facilities won’t accept a medication chart printed using our practice software. It goes on and on.
Of course, some administration and bureaucracy is necessary in general practice. However, there are dozens of government agencies — Commonwealth, state and local — who are always happy to pile on that little bit extra. New bureaucratic ideas often result in new paperwork burdens on GPs.
The first thing you have to do when you visit www.waronredtape.com.au is fill in a form… just kidding. The web site includes a blog, where GPs and their practice staff can cite examples of the red tape choking their practices.
The first objective is to collect as many examples as possible of red tape affecting general practice. It’s not just about Medicare, the Department of Human Services (in Victoria) and the health portfolio. It’s also about local government regulations, consumer affairs bureaucracy, Centrelink forms, other state and local government red tape, and more.
We want to collect as many examples as possible to demonstrate to government just how much red tape is tying up resources in general practice — time and energy that would be better used for patient care.
We will be active in communicating with politicians responsible for red tape — not just health ministers but Treasurers, Ministers for Small Business and others — and seek to reduce the burden.
Governments in Canberra and Melbourne have shown some tentative steps that provide a glimmer of hope. In Canberra, Minister Roxon has recently announced a review designed to simplify Medicare. Here in Victoria, the state government has announced its intention to reduce the regulatory burden on business by 25 per cent by 2011.
However, in early discussions with the Treasurer’s officials here in Melbourne they had little comprehension of just how much red tape is involved in general practice. We want to help educate them.
We want you to share your stories, your frustrations — the more we hear from you, the more noise we can make in the corridors of power. Help us in our war on general practice red tape.
Go to www.waronredtape.com.au and start blogging.
Dr Harry Hemley is a Melbourne GP and vice president of AMA Victoria
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