Visiting GPs say that they are only receiving “drip supplies” of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) from the Primary Health Networks (PHNs).
GP and lecturer Dr Ken McCroary, who regularly sees visits residential aged care facilities, told NewsGP, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners’ newsletter, that his practice has only received one box and most of the other practices he has spoken to are in the same situation.
Dr McCroary says homes have been transitioning to telehealth consultations with residents, but add that it is not an ideal situation for nurses who are “running around without PPE carrying around the phone from one room to the next”.
Professor Dimity Pond (pictured), a GP with an interest in aged care who gave evidence at the Royal Commission’s Sydney hearings last May, pointed out that GPs visiting facilities tend to be older and more vulnerable.
“I’m over 65 myself. We’re exactly the age group that is likely to die from COVID-19. So that’s something that weighs on people’s minds, understandably, and when you can’t protect yourself, I’d have to question whether GPs would want to keep going,” she said.
“Once there’s been a case, I would have to really think carefully about that. Unless I get more PPE.”
If there are outbreaks in more aged care facilities, Professor Pond says there will need to be a “radical rethink” of GP visits.
“I do think that those [aged care facilities] deserve PPE, those staff should not be being exposed to COVID-19 without PPE, and even if the GPs can’t have it for their own practice and their own patients, they should not be going into those facilities without proper PPE,” she said.
This is an important point. Residents are entitled to care from a GP under the Aged Care Quality Standards.
Can telehealth fill the gap if GPs won’t visit homes?
