More than 40,000 visits to Victorian emergency departments for patients 70 and older are for conditions that could be managed by general practitioners, a Monash University Study has discovered.
The report looked at 200,000 hospital admissions over a five-year period that were deemed unnecessary to be treated in an emergency department.
The research highlighted peak times for these admissions was 9am on a Monday.
Dr Anthony Cross, president of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine, says general practice is the cornerstone of medical care in Australia, and should be treated and funded accordingly.
“There are a lot of patients that come into emergency departments and we do wonder whether they could have been managed in general practice,” Dr Cross said.
Many patients tire of waiting months for specialist care are concerned waiting times at general practice clinics force them to seek emergency care.
But Dr Cross warns while doctors in emergency will always help, sometimes they aren’t the appropriate person to treat patients.
“Most physicians are specialists, but we are specialists in emergency medicine not eye and ear problems, we can help to a degree, but we aren’t specialists and we end up referring them on anyway.”
The report follows comments by Premier Daniel Andrews last week to 3AW morning radio that more must be done to look at prevention of illness and holistic management in all sectors of medicine.
“They could avoid being admitted to hospital if they were better managed, but … we are failing to organise the work GPs do, the work hospitals do, the work pharmacists do.”
Dr Cross adds that the elderly normally suffer multiple chronic ailments that need proper, frequent and holistic medical attention and prevention.
“We need to fund and put the emphasis on allowing returning general practice to the centre of our health care because with these elderly patients … the best way to manage them is with a single doctor who knows their history, knows their conditions, knows what’s been tried and what has failed in the past and, if necessary, they can then refer onwards.”
Australia’s ageing population is already putting substantial strain on resources in the health sector, with talk of changes to the GST this week to cope with growing demand.
