Where the cheapest GPs in NSW are

New data reveals where the state’s cheapest GPs as more practices and clinics refuse to bulk bill. See the list.

Exclusive: Only six local government areas in NSW have GP clinics that bulk bill all patients, while the number of people visiting their GP has plunged.

A new analysis by healthcare directory Cleanbill found almost half the local government areas across Australia have no available bulk billing clinics for non-concession card holding adults.

“Of the 454 LGAs across Australia where we we’ve able to find an available GP clinic, almost half (47.8 per cent) have no available, bulk billing GP clinics,” Cleanbill founder James Gillespie said.

However, patients could save more than $40 on a GP visit if they travelled 25 minutes to a local government area with lower charging doctors.

The survey found the least expensive GP clinics in NSW were in the local government area of Tenterfield where the average out of pocket expense was $8.60.

Only six local government areas in NSW have GP clinics that bulk bill all patients new data shows.

The most expensive clinics were in the local government area of Woollahra where the average out of pocket charge was $69.15.

Patients are now paying up to $190 to see a GP and nearly half Australia’s local government areas now have no clinics that bulk bill adult patients without a concession card.

The medical double whammy is so potent, Medicare data shows a 3.5 per cent slide in number of consultations – from 83.7 million in the second half of 2022 to 80.7 million in 2023.

GP groups are expecting little help from next week’s budget to ease patient’s out of pocket expenses.

We phoned clinics in local government areas with the highest charges and discovered one practice in Woollahra in Sydney (Woollahra Doctors) charging $190 for a standard GP visit, which leaves patients $148 out of pocket after they receive a Medicare rebate.

Another practice – Baylife Medical in Neutral Bay, Sydney – is listed on the Cleanbill site as charging $169.75 for a standard appointment, which leaves patients $128 out of pocket.

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This compares to the Australian Medical Association’s recommended fee of $102 for a standard visit.

Patients are being kept in the dark about the charges with fewer than one in 10 GP clinics displaying pricing information on their websites.

To arrest the slide in bulk billing rates the government last year tripled the Medicare rebate for GPs who bulk billed children aged under 16, pensioners and concession card holders.

But there was no increase in the bulk billing rate for working adults.

Health Minister Mark Butler said the measure pushed up the bulk billing rate by 2.7 per cent to 77.7 per cent in March this year.

However, this is still vastly lower than it was in December 2021 when it was 88.4 per cent.

“Cleanbill’s data measures how many practices fully bulk bill every single patient that comes through their door for every single service. Now that is one measure of bulk billing, but it’s not in our view, the most significant measure,” Mr Butler said.

“General practice urgently needs funding,” said GP and AMA vice president Dr Danielle McMullen.

Dr Danielle McMullen from the Church Street Medical Practice in Newtown says GP practice urgently needs funding. Picture: Jonathan Ng

In last year’s budget the government established a new My Medicare system where patients enrolled with a single GP practice in return for wrap around care from a range of specialists including nurses, physiotherapists, and pharmacists.

Even though hundreds of thousands of patients signed up to the scheme the government has not set aside enough money to fund the comprehensive care.

“My Medicare needs to deliver on those promises of a better system for patients and for doctors because if GP clinics aren’t supported we are setting up for a cycle of failure where we’ve got more patients getting sicker, ending up in hospital (and) out of the workforce,” Dr McMullen said.

Kingswood GP Dr Ayesha Yousaf, who moved from a non bulk billing practice to a bulk billing clinic three months ago to be closer to home, had to double her working hours to maintain her income.

“I was working only five hours four days a week, now I’m working five days eight to nine hours a day because I’m working in a non in a bulk billing practice,” she said.

Sammy Khan, the practice manager at Medical and Fitness Centre Kingswood, still bulk bills his patients. Picture: Tim Hunter

Her new practice is reluctant to move away from bulk billing because they treat a lot of pensioners.

Mr Sammy Khan, who manages the Medical and Fitness Centre where Dr Yousaf works, said “expenses have gone through the roof so it’s been a challenging time for us to continue to bulk bill as a business”.

“We’ve had practices close in this area. We’ve had practices that have moved from bulk billing to private billing, and we’ve had patients directly come to us from those different locations,” he said.