Pollies on board with registrar leave

Representatives from the GP registrar and student organisations met with MPs and senators to call for a national GP training and leave support fund.

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Paid leave for GP registrars might not have gotten a look in at the May federal budget, but the peak body for general practice trainees won’t give up that easily.

General Practice Registrars Australia president Dr Karyn Matterson and General Practice Student Network national chair Shawn Yang both made the trip to Canberra this week, where independent MP Dr Sophie Scamps hosted the annual parliamentary friends of general practice breakfast.

Dr Scamps, who practised as a GP in Narrabeen until the 2022 election, spoke in support of registrar employment reform.

“If we want to see more graduates choose general practice as their career, we need to urgently address the employment conditions for GPs in training – and this means investing in national study and parental leave funds,” she said.

“Fix that and we will attract more junior doctors to GP training, delivering benefits to communities who depend on GPs as their first port of call when they or their families are sick.”

GPRA, the AMA and the RACGP all put forward their own versions of a GP registrar leave scheme ahead of the budget in May.

The general vision is for a government-funded scheme that would allow registrars to accrue paid leave entitlements as they move across training locations, allowing them to take parental or sick leave like their hospital-based peers.

Study and exam leave is also a feature of the various schemes.

GPRA’s current ask is for $17 million annually for a national, independent GP training leave support fund alongside a $40m base rate wage supplement to ensure that GP registrars do not suffer a pay cut when leaving hospital-based employment.

“As policy makers, we need to listen to their ideas on improving people’s access to GPs, community-based primary care, and the investment that is needed to attract and retain GPs in our communities,” said Dr Scamps.

The third ask from GPRA and GPSN is for increased funding for GP clubs in medical schools, to help foster early interest in general practice as a career choice.

“We are at a critical juncture,” Dr Matterson said.

“We need the extra push to sure up the ongoing conversion of prevocational doctors to GP and rural generalist registrars, and we need the federal government’s commitment to do so.”