AMA Blueprint for Primary Care

General Practice has for decades understood that patient care delivered with a primary care orientation will deliver a more effective, efficient and equitable health service and outcomes. International experience and in particular, the most often cited example, the United Kingdom, point to positive effects particularly in Chronic Disease management.

Governments have belatedly recognised the benefits of Primary Care as the fulcrum of a properly integrated health care system. The Australian Government has initiated an extensive program of health care reform, an integral part of which is development of a national Primary Health Care strategy.

The Federal Health Minister has launched a national consultation on the modernisation and redesign of Primary Care. The two key issues under debate are approaches to improving health outcomes for patients with chronic diseases and enhanced roles for Nurse Practitioners and other allied health professionals.

The Federal AMA has launched the AMA Blueprint for the delivery of primary health care services in Australia called: "General Practice in Primary Care: Responding to patients needs".

This considered response is designed to guide both State and Federal Government in understanding that General Practitioners are and must remain as the fulcrum of Primary Care. It also outlines the steps that must be taken to maintain and improve Primary Care.

The issues of patient safety, quality of care, quality assurance are key issues that this document endeavours to address.

William Waldegrave, a previous UK Secretary of State for Health states in his introduction to "The Health of the Nation", the consultative document that sets out the strategy for improving health in England, "we are clear about one thing: a strategy imposed by Government which takes no heed of the views of those who will implement it, including the people themselves is valueless." The AMA is committed to ensuring that Federal and State Government's listen.

General Practice has been one of the best jobs in medicine and it can be gain. It has to recapture its attraction to protect its future which is the responsibility of those currently in practice. The challenges are formidable but not insurmountable. The AMA blueprint is designed to provide the pathway for providing the infrastructure to help then care for their populations of patients.

Members are encouraged to read the document carefully and register your views with the AMA. Your contributions are vital.

• General Practice in Primary Care: Responding to Patient Needs