Just weeks ahead of the launch of a fast-tracked path to approve overseas-trained GPs to work in Australia, the Royal Australian College of GPs is worried the program is not ready.
Initially prioritising GPs, anaesthetists, obstetricians and gynaecologists, and psychiatrists (in line with jurisdictional priorities), the new process aims to get more medical specialists face to face with patients in Australia, through a fast track that will sit alongside the existing specialist medical college assessment system.
Conditions on their registration will be imposed as a safeguard to protect patients while the new recruits are inducted into Australia’s healthcare system.
The Medical Board of Australia only announced the expedited pathway in late April and with the program planned to commence in October, the RACGP has expressed concerns about the program’s readiness and patient safety.
RACGP President Dr Nicole Higgins said the Board must listen to the medical colleges’ concerns, noting that the new process relied on a paper-based suitability assessment.
“Whereas we and other colleges have fast-tracked our processes for overseas-trained specialists while keeping the rigour and standards our patients expect,” she said.
“We have been clear that if this is to happen so soon, only GPs with training in contexts most like Australia should qualify – the UK, New Zealand, and Ireland – but we have not been informed what qualifications will be eligible. This isn’t about which countries are ‘best’, it’s about which practitioners will be able to practice safely in an Australian context from day one.
“We don’t even know what is supposed to happen when a practitioner is approved to come and start practicing in Australia under supervision but is found to be unsuitable for the program. That’s deeply concerning… and makes us question if they’re ready for a process that’s supposed to start in weeks.”
The MBA said that discussions with the RACGP, ACCRM, ANZCA, RANZCOG and RANZCP had been undertaken to determine which qualifications had consistently been assessed as comparable in existing college approval processes, as the basis of the new expedited process.
Australia’s former Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy said the expedited specialist pathway being developed by the Board and Ahpra was ‘essential,’ but noted that fellowship of a specialist medical college would not be an automatic outcome of the new expedited pathway.
“This is an international marketplace where we must be competitive, and we must be attractive to those doctors and other healthcare professionals who might want to come here,” he said.
“For those doctors who are currently in the process of migrating, we should be doing everything possible to get them into clinical practice as soon as it is safe. We should do what we can to make migration to Australia attractive for those doctors who we really need to fill critical shortages in critical locations and specialties including, if necessary, subsidising some of the costs.”
The RACGP has called on the Government to boost the general practice workforce through domestic training and by supporting existing pathways for safe and fast processing for overseas-trained GPs.
“The RACGP has already fast tracked its processes, and we now assess and approve internationally trained GPs significantly faster, while ensuring these GPs are ready to practice in the Australian context under expert GP supervision,” Dr Higgins said.
“The Government must also support the training of more GPs here. Ensuring Australian doctors training as GPs have the same remuneration as other specialists in training would make a big difference in incentivising them to train as GPs.”