BRIEFING
DR INES RIO Chair, Australian Medical Association Victoria Section of General Practice, and Chair, North Western Melbourne PHN
Please just tell me when the appointment will be! GPs, patients and opaque waiting lists for public hospital specialists. Your patient told you they’d been putting off
They don’t have health insurance and can’t
making an appointment to see you, but now
afford the out-of-pocket cost of a private specialist,
they’re finally at your GP clinic. At first the
so you decide to send off a referral to the local
symptoms weren’t that bad, but they haven’t gone
public hospital’s specialist clinic.
away and it’s starting to affect their quality of
After a few weeks, your patient rings the
life. Perhaps it’s that increasing pain in their hip,
hospital clinic to find out a date for their specialist
intermittent rash or a ringing in the ear that is now
appointment but they’re given no idea how long
keeping them awake at night and affecting their
it might be until one is available. You also try
functioning. So you decide your patient needs to
to enquire, but no-one can provide an answer.
see a non-GP specialist for assessment; perhaps
You may even be told they are on the waitlist
even an operation.
for the waitlist. Your patient is now on what The Health Advocate • OCTOBER 2019
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