Primary Care in Australia

Abstract

The Australian health care delivery system is reviewed in this article, with special comment on the implications of the financial components of the system and government concerns regarding costs and over-servicing. General practitioners' perception of their role is not significantly different from the expectation of patients, yet the reality may not match the idealized view. There are problems related to availability and there are developments which seem to pose some threat to the continuing care of patients. New developments have occurred in the way in which practice is organized which give an emphasis to continual availability over 24 hour periods, and these developments pose a challenge to the way in which doctors have organized their practices. Population features-Aborigines, migrants, and the elderly-present significant problems that are not always well met, and the concept of total patient care thereby suffers. The general practitioner's apparent failure to fill the expected role in co-ordination of services is discussed, as is the need for general practitioners to become more actively involved in health education and promotion. The hope for the future lies in the Family Medicine Programme of The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, which represents a major attempt to provide appropriate vocational training for general practice.