Australian GP clinics forced to shut down as waiting lists blow out and Medicare rebates fail patients

Many patients are waiting up to three weeks to see a doctor, as GP practices close down due to paltry Medicare rebates. See the map and how it affects you. Have your say.

Tens of thousands of patients around the country are struggling to access a GP as a growing number of practices close their doors due to paltry Medicare rebates and a critical shortage of doctors.

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has described the mass closure of GP practices as a “canary in the coalmine moment” and is pleading for a rise in Medicare rebates for bulk billing in the May budget.

“Without improved funding into general practice, my concern is that we’ll end up with a two tier system as more practices move away from bulk billing and disadvantaged communities that can’t afford to pay gap fees may struggle to access general practice,” RACGP president Dr Nicole Higgins said.

Nearly 40 per cent of patients are waiting as long as three weeks for a GP appointment TKP Market Research for the GP service InstantScripts has found.

To stay afloat medical clinics are abandoning bulk billing and introducing charges of $60- $90 per visit.

See the map below of which GP clinics have had to shut their doors.

RACGP president Dr Nicole Higgins Picture: Supplied

Health Minister Mark Butler said the former Government froze the Medicare rebate for six years, “ripping billions of dollars out of primary care and causing gap fees to skyrocket”.

Bellbowrie Family Practice in Queensland closed its doors in 2020. Picture: Supplied

He said his government was investing $163 million to attract and retain more health workers to the bush, was giving every GP practice a share in $220 million to and rolling out 50 Urgent Care clinics to take pressure off overwhelmed emergency departments.

Minister for Health and Aged Care Mark Butler. Picture Martin Ollman/Getty Images

“Strengthening Medicare after a decade of cuts from the former Government will take more than one budget but we are determined to get this right,” Mr Butler said.

AMA shows the growing gap between average weekly earnings and the Medicare rebate which has not been properly indexed to inflation for decades.

The government is likely to increase bulk billing incentives for pensioners and young children in the budget and is being asked lift Medicare rebates for consults which last 20 minutes or more by 10 per cent and introduce a new Medicare rebate for consults lasting more than one hour.

News Corp can reveal a list of almost 60 GP clinics that have shut their doors in the past three years.

Family Medicine Umina Beach in NSW closed in September 2021.

‘THEY CAN’T AFFORD IT’

Dr Tom Lieng was forced to close his Ingleburn GP practice in Sydney’s south west this month because it was losing money and he couldn’t find doctors who were prepared to bulk bill.

He said he cannot even sell the practice as there is no buyer.

“We lost three doctors last year. Two moved to practices where they are charging $90 for a consult, the other to one where they see more patients per hour to make up income,” Dr Lieng said.

“The issue is that our local community is poor. They can’t afford $90“.

Seven in 10 GP practice owners told a RACGP survey last year they are concerned about the ongoing viability of their practice.

Dr Tim Lieng outside the closed Ingleburn GP. Picture: Supplied

The Rural Doctors Association says even when clinics remain open they don’t have enough doctors to treat patients.

“A month ago there was over 800 rural GP type vacancies advertised via the workforce agencies” Rural Doctors Association CEO Peta Rutherford said.

Only 14 per cent of new medical graduates want to become a GP, down from over 50 per cent and there is a predicted shortage of 11,500 GPs by 2032.

Rutherford North Medical Centre in Maitland in NSW closed in February 2023.

A quarter of the profession is looking at retiring in the next five years, Dr Higgins said.

Compounding the problem is the fact that almost two thirds of the GP workforce is part-time -61 per cent of GPs work fewer than 40 hours per week.

Australia is witnessing the final death throes of the traditional solo family doctor, just six per cent of GP practices now have a single doctor.

Even practices with two or three doctors now can’t make enough money from Medicare bulk billing to cover their $200,000 a year bills for rent and wages for nurses and receptionists.

Integrated Medical Centre in Fitzroy North Victoria closed in November 2022.

‘DAUNTING AND EXHAUSTING’

Rebecca Cade was devastated when the GP clinic she attended closed earlier this year and is now battling to find a new doctor with many practices in her area not taking new patients.

The 48-year-old nurse suffers from the auto-immune condition vasculitis which has required multiple hospital admissions, a pacemaker, and a cell transplant.

Her illness has affected her kidneys, her joints, led to neurological symptoms and one of her treatments has given her osteoporosis.

Rebecca Cade, 48, from Leumeah is a nurse who was a patient of the Ingleburn GP clinic that recently closed. Picture: Jonathan Ng

“I’ve got quite a long medical history, complex medical history,” Ms Cade said.

“The thought of having to bring someone new up to speed on sort of what’s happened over the last 13 years is quite daunting and exhausting,” she said.

Only able to work part-time because of her health problems, Ms Cade said she has little money left each fortnight after paying bills and buying medicine and would find it hard if a new doctor did not bulk bill.

She wants the government to increase Medicare rebates to keep up with GP costs and said incentive programs similar to those used in the bush should apply to get doctors to work in outer suburban areas like Ingleburn.

Originally published as Australian GP clinics forced to shut down as waiting lists blow out and Medicare rebates fail patients