Q. Should the government “make it easier to see a doctor”?
Well sure, but like most ALP aspirations it is half-baked. The real goal of a Health policy is to:
“Improve community health”
Will “making it easier to see a doctor” result in “improved Community Health”?
Unlikely because it only addresses the symptoms.
The Labor party has forgotten the Age-old wisdom:
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”
Prevention is achieved through:
- Diet
- Daily Exercise
- Sleep (Job security)
- Being Positive
- R&D into Preventive medicine
A economically rational Health manager would analyse the profile of GP visits and the causes of those visits and then reduce the visits through preventive measures. A GP visit is in a sense an “error” in your health and by improving your health would remove the necessity for a GP visit. According to the RACGP[1], people in South-West Sydney saw their GP nearly 8 times a year on average. From the Chart[2], half of all Australians saw a GP 3 times or less. It follows that the other half, saw a GP more than 12 times a year!
And the ALP wants to make it easier?
References:
- “Australians are visiting their GP more and more” – RACGP
- “Frequent GP attenders and their use of health services in 2012–13” – AIHW
- “Making it easier to see a doctor” – ALP
This literally shows the consequence of too much government: Unintended consequences