Parents Outraged As After-Hours Home Doctor Services May Be Cut

Australian parents are disappointed about the possibility that after-hours home doctor services may be cut, due to claims that some home doctors are under-qualified.

Despite his “rock-solid” commitment to after-hours home care, Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt told Kidspot in a statement that he is now reviewing the popular service after claims that the service is being abused. He has questioned the legitimacy of some of the call-outs, and also whether the doctors are fully qualified.

“We have an absolutely rock solid commitment to after-hours medical access. But we also have a commitment to ensuring that every service provided is genuine and that every doctor is up to scratch.

“I am concerned about reports that some doctors are claiming to be providing urgent services when they’re not urgent at all.

“The advice from the AMA and the RACGP is that some of these junior doctors and corporate firms are claiming for items which are not genuinely urgent,” he said.

He said that he is waiting for recommendations from AMA president Dr Steve Hambleton on how the service could be changed to “enhance the quality”.

Some parents have told Kidspot about how the bulk-billed home doctor services helped them, and that cutting the service would badly affect their families. “It’s such a relief to have them,” says Alison Hutchison from Melbourne, who has used the service for children and elderly parents. “There’s usually quite a wait but it’s worth it.”

GP lobby group the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) also have the same fears as the government’s, claiming that many doctors sent on house calls are “under-qualified”, yet still claim maximum Medicare rebates for their services. “Urgent after-hours visits attract a premium Medicare rebate. Currently those premium rebates are often being billed by doctors who do not have any postgraduate or specialist qualifications in general practice, at a cost to the taxpayer and Medicare of over $250 million in the last year alone,” RACGP President Dr Bastian Seidel said in a media release last week.

However, representatives from after-hours services strongly dispute claims that the services are sub-standard, or that they’re costing the public money.

Dr Ryan Harvey, Deputy Clinical Director at House Call Doctor, an after-hours service in Queensland disagreed to claims that house call doctors are under-qualified. He said that all after-hours doctors meet stringent eligibility requirements that are set by the government. He added that on average, house call doctors have over 12 years experience.

He also said that the law states house call doctors must be fully registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). “As a minimum, each house call doctor has at least 3 years of training in hospitals, before they can conduct home visits. Many house call doctors are also hospital registrars and accredited General Practitioners, so they are fully capable of caring for families after-hours,” he says.

A survey commissioned by the National Association of Medical Deputising Services at the end of last year showed that 79 per cent of Australians consider after-hours services as an “important” or “extremely important” part of their families’ medical care. It also showed that a home visit by a doctor costs the taxpayer $128 compared to the $368 for an emergency room visit.

Source: Kidspot.com.au