Rapid response from GPs a key to Australia’s COVID success

General practitioners have seen dramatic changes over the last six months, including the adoption of telehealth and electronic prescribing services. Research suggests these changes could be one of the reasons behind Australia’s success in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.

GP clinics saw a 30 per cent drop in face-to-face consultations, and a corresponding rise in telehealth over that time. Telehealth services are due to finish on September 30 unless the government extends the deadline.

A new paper in Australian Health Review examines how GP services responded to the pandemic, and highlights how these initiatives can inform the development of Australia’s long-term national health plan.

Lead author Dr Michael Wright says GPs have rapidly embraced new technology to support telehealth consultations, and reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission.

“Telehealth services not only reduced staff and patient exposure but also helped patients who were required to stay at home and isolate,” says Dr Wright, a GP who also recently completed a PhD in health economics at the University of Technology Sydney.

“There is a strong desire from patients and GPs to see these services continue, not only to help prevent the spread of infectious diseases, but also to assist those who might have difficulty attending a GP clinic in person.

“However, it’s important to ensure that telehealth doesn’t lead to lower quality care. We also need to make sure opportunistic providers can’t overuse the system, leading to a budget blowout, as this would undermine support,” he says.

While integrating telehealth into previous models of care takes time and investment, it has undoubtedly helped to keep patients and staff safe, and reduced virus transmission and deaths in the community.

GP-led respiratory clinics

Another initiative to reduce the spread of COVID-19 was the establishment of more than 140 GP-led respiratory clinics, working in parallel with testing clinics set up by local health districts.

This meant that people with respiratory symptoms could be tested, assessed and treated separately from mainstream GP and hospital settings.

The paper notes problems with lack of communication between testing clinics and GP services, with GP’s not alerted when their patients have COVID tests, even when testing positive. "The pandemic has highlighted existing fragmentation within the health system" says Dr Wright.

“Policymakers have long advocated for better coordination and integration between the hospital setting and primary care, to improve health outcomes and reduce inefficiencies,” says co-author Jane Hall, Distinguished Professor of Health Economics at the Centre for Health Economics Research and Evaluation (CHERE).

Personal protective equipment

The rapid adoption of personal protective equipment (PPE) for doctors and patients was another transformation to GP services.

“PPE availability has been a critical issue the health system throughout this crisis. Many general practices possessed and used little PPE before the pandemic, and commercial supplies were difficult to obtain,” says Professor Hall.

The government, through primary health networks, provided PPE to more than 7000 general practices and pharmacies, including over 3.4 million masks. This was potentially critical to reducing infection rates in healthcare workers and patients.

GP’s will also play an ongoing role in managing the long-term effects of COVID-19 infection, which could include chronic physical and mental health issues for some patients.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in multiple changes in the delivery of general practice services, and these have contributed to Australia’s successful response to the pandemic to date,” says Dr Wright.

“While integrating telehealth into previous models of care takes time and investment, it has undoubtedly helped to keep patients and staff safe, and reduced virus transmission and deaths in the community.”