Remember 9 months ago when they said that Covid-19 patients retain elevated risk for at least nine months...? H/t MD 💙 ❤️ escardio.org/The-ESC/Press-…

"Easy" consultations are only that when it's over. What starts as "easy" can end up very difficult, eg "just a script for the pill" becomes a long consult about depression. Devaluing general practice will be a disaster

I'm over this. I can take up the local hospitals offer tomorrow, get paid more, not deal with #Medicare, get super/holidays/paid leave. Downside: the 200+ patients I see each week won't have a GP anymore. Good-luck replacing that with a allied health. Mark Butler MP #rural

Medicare reform is likely to drive GPs out of the workforce & reduce the number of Drs wanting to become GPs. Govt will fix this with role substitution. So nurses become GPs, ENs become nurses. Cleaners become ENs & consumers & carers will be more overloaded. This is not OK.

Attention all politicians! One-fifth of Australians report that their GP has stopped bulk-billing and more than 3/4 support increasing Medicare rebates to encourage more GPs to bulk-bill. It’s the right move and people across Australia know it. #Medicare smh.com.au/politics/feder…

Quote: More than three-quarters of Australians support increasing the rebate to encourage more GPs to offer bulk-billing, out-polling both increased hospital funding and out-of-hours clinics as a way to fix the crisis.

Unnecessary hospital visits cost around $540 per presentation. That’s it. That’s the Tweet. #justaGP #MedTwitter Mark Butler MP Dominic Perrottet Bronnie Taylor

Jennifer Doggett Lesley Russell Wolpe You realise those rebates pay for everything yes? So if it's about 'GP pay'; it's also about nurse pay, reception pay, consumables, rent, insurance etc. and ALL the other things that get paid for BEFORE the GP. What's disingenuous are basic statements that 'rebate = GP pay'.

I am not a GP, nor married to one as some have suggested. No vested interests; I am just a really strong believer in the importance of primary care, and why we need to be honest about what role substitution really is, if that’s what is being proposed. womensagenda.com.au/life/health/gp…

The best way to educate the public about the true nature of Medicare is to bill privately. Everyone When the rebate arrives in the patient’s bank account it is a reminder of just whose rebate it is #GP #HealthReform #MBS

The rebate is 'essentially' GPs 'pay'.....uh, no. GPs are 'essentially' government employees....definitely no (where's my super Albo?) The #bulkbilling incentive is 'essentially' a co-payment cap....wtf? Using the word 'essentially' isn't licence to just make stuff up people!

Anticlimactic day with taskforce report lacking any concrete plans or big announcements for primary care (so much hype). Doing so further risks disengaging young GPs like myself. Either of these will occur: increased gap payments, or career exit plans.

The gov wants more Drs to train as GPs. And they want those GPs to continue bulk billing. Who in their right mind would take a job that has had no pay rise for 10 yrs, and was promising more red-tape in the future? #GoodLuckWithThat

There is a reason why we have always separated the prescribing and dispensing of medicines. If pharmacists dispense the very drugs they are writing a script for, it’s a massive conflict of interest. Pharmacy prescribing also makes combating antimicrobial resistance much harder.

A student shadowing me in O&G marvelled at how much we did in just 4 hours. From miscarriage, to APH, mastitis, prem labour, & IOL. Imagine following me for a week, in GP rooms, triage & rural emergency. This Specialty is wild and diverse. #DestinationRural #MedTwitter

I mean, this is just a thought, and I’m happy to be shot down but how about we get the Department to educate us, really spell out the ambiguity of MBS item number descriptors *before* sending nudge letters en mass to the Specialty struggling most. Mark Butler MP AMA Media

Yesterday I saw a patient told she had a spider bite by pharmacist. She had shingles. The whole idea of expanding pharmacists roles is incredibly dangerous.

Here’s a way of saving Medicare $ Stop telling hospital patients to see their GP for outpatient test results. They’re never sent to the GP. Ever. We waste 1 appt explaining we don’t have it. Receptionist time to chase it, then 2nd appt to give the result Upload it to MHR!

Mark Butler MP Yvette D'Ath MP There's a GP shortage which is only getting worse. Any GP time spent doing UCC work is by necessity going to have to come at the cost of regular GP work. Until you value #generalpractice and make it an attractive career choice this is all pointless.

“I had no idea you could do that!” Yes, as a GP, you CAN: ✅do operative obstetrics ✅manage an emergency department ✅take on teaching, leadership, research roles ✅do complex flap repairs & grafts ✅perform endoscopies ✅empower women with reproductive choice ACRRM RACGP