The Broken Australian Medical System: An Inside Look

The issues besetting Australia's medical system are not too different from those in other Western countries. Recently, I read a medical group article about the healthcare system's deterioration. They made several salient points.

• 60% of medical doctors suffer burnout, especially general practitioners (GPs).

• With the baby boomer generation retiring, the shortage of GPs will be even more acute than it is now.

• As much time is spent on paperwork as with patients.

• The regulatory burden is contributing to an increase in stress.

• Many doctors feel they can't provide optimal care, as evidenced during COVID-19.

• Woke ideology has infiltrated the medical establishment

In recent years, I have found that patient complaints about doctors have escalated. It's not just about the doctors but also about their staff. Staff sit in front of computer screens, often failing to acknowledge or connect with patients. One thing I learned years ago about the healing process is that connection to people, showing warmth, humility, and caring, is a vital component of the healing process.

Some might say that the patients will seek alternative practitioners instead of going the way of drug treatment whichoften is what they get from medical doctors. That is true with non-drug practitioners such as chiropractors flourishing. However, they may want to see a medical specialist. In that case, the issue is not so simple because, in Australia, you need a referral from a GP to see a specialist. If a person doesn't have private cover and it's not a life-threatening situation, which could still be quite painful, they may have to wait a year or more.

GPs experience a lot of stress because they have to be jacks of all trades. They not only deal with conventional medical issues but also counsel patients, deal with end-of-life issues, and organize hospital admissions. It's not a job I would like. Being a chiropractor is so much easier and more rewarding, especially because we are not beholden to anyone except the registration board.

My wife retired two months ago after almost 55 years in general practice. She had had enough. In the first year of her practice life 1970, she went to the Highlands of New Guinea. Dealing with primitive tribes in conditions that no one in a modern society would tolerate was a real eye opener. But it was also a great experience. She had to practice medicine on the fly without all the facilities that were available back in Australia and had to deal with some really sick people. She saw firsthand babies die of tetanus––an awful thing to witness. She sometimes had to patch up the locals when there was a conflict between tribes using machetes. It was not an experience for the faint-hearted.

Coming back to Australia, she settled into conventional medical practice in the early 1970s. The woke ideology that has infiltrated medicine today was not on anybody's radar. You didn't have to worry about which pronouns you used. There were no computers, just handwritten appointment books and manual billing. We may have been more tech-illiterate, but we connected more with people.

Several factors today have brought the medical system to the breaking point, not just in Australia but also in America, the UK, and Canada.

1. Over-regulation

When you got your license in the 1970s, attending seminars was optional, but most doctors and alternative practitioners, such as chiropractors and dentists, attended courses out of interest in bettering themselves.

Governments introduced increasingly stringent rules to obtain practice accreditation and regarding what one can or cannot say to a patient. During COVID-19, this became very apparent.

2. Tyrannical Licensing Boards

Licensing boards gained more power. In Australia, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulatory Agency (AHPA) was established in 2010. Previously, there were individual state boards; now, AHPRA is a federal agency.

AHPRA strictly controlled what you could have in your office in the form of advertising and what you could or could not say to patients. It took the attitude that doctors were guilty until proven innocent.

This was never more striking than during COVID-19 when doctors were prosecuted for daring to give patients exemptions from the 'vaccine'. To this day, doctors are told by AHPRA to tell their patients the necessity of getting COVID-19 booster shots.

With AHPRA at the helm, doctors were always looking over their shoulders and walking on eggshells lest they run afoul of AHPRA.

3. Corporate Medicine

Because of the financial burdens associated with running a practice, there are few single-practitioner practices today. Corporate structure means there are anywhere from five to ten doctors in a practice, with nurses as well. That is a positive in a way; however, individual autonomy is somewhat restricted as the corporation ultimately makes the decisions. In addition, patients are often shuttled between different doctors in the practice, which interrupts continuity.

4. General Loss of Medical Autonomy

In the past, one of the hallmarks of being a doctor was deciding what was best for the patient sitting before you. WithCOVID-19 that all went out the window. Doctors had to follow the directives from the Health Department––push the vaccines and deny any alternative treatments like Hydroxychloroquine or Ivermectin. Who suffered most? The patients. In line with this situation, pharmaceutical companies wield too much power, constantly bombarding doctors through journals and workshops on the latest and greatest medication; often, that medication will be taken off the market, whichhas caused too many adverse effects.

5. Overworked and Underpaid?

A doctor underpaid? If you take into account the years and money spent on medical education, then the hours spent working, the income is good but not extraordinary as a GP. In Australia, being a GP is considered a specialty, so now you have to do the basic medical training–six years–and then it's another three years of the specialty. The income is comparable to a good job on mining sites in Australia, roughly $200,000 a year for a typical work week. You also don't get holiday pay. If you can't work, you don't earn.

Then there is the stress of making sure that you do the right thing, otherwise a law suit may be just around the corner and that can be fraught with a lot of stress even with malpractice insurance coverage.

Some feel that fewer doctors are a positive because we are an overmedicated society. Yes, people should be educated early on about health prevention so they don't get into all manner of health issues. However, the message is still not out there as so many Australians, like Americans, have a big obesity problem.

If people exercise regularly, eat smaller portions in moderation, and minimize junk food, they would be so much healthier and take a load off the health care system. Most health care is really disease treatment.

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There is a place for medicine. Though there is a lot to fault with modern medicine, they also provide services that enable people to lead more useful lives. Hip replacements, coronary bypass surgery and cataract surgery have been made almost routine and allows many to lead function into their senior years. Most of us will come to a time in our lives when we will probably need some form of medical care, whether it's for a crisis or just palliative care to help us in our last few days.