Chair’s Report September 2021

Nicole Higgins
GPSA Chair, Dr Nicole Higgins

Are we willing to be taken for granted ?

In our negotiations with RACGP, ACRRM and the Department of Health, the basic principle of GPSA  has been that;

  • No supervisor should be worse off under the new system 
  • No practice should be worse off under the new system
  • No registrar should be worse off under the new system
  • Supervisors should have equal pay for equal work
  • Supervisor payments should be lifted to the highest rate of the currently applied payments ($150ph) for in-practice teaching 

Supervisor payments have barely increased in the last 20 years and supervision comes at a cost to both the supervisor and the practice. Practice payments are only a part subsidy, haven’t kept up with inflation nor reflect the true cost of hosting a registrar in the practice.

Supervisors want equal pay for equal work. 

A nationally consistent model should pay all supervisors and practices the same. We have recommended loadings for rurality and complexity. 

What concerns me is that;

  1. Supervisors and training practices could be worse off. We could be the “losers” in the transition to Profession Led Training. We have heard that some supervisors could be paid substantially less at a figure of $120 p/h.

    For example this is a $30 p/h drop for South Australian supervisors. This is not acceptable. 

  2. Nothing about us without us. Supervisors were invited to contribute to initial discussions but the decision about how much and for what, will be decided on by DoH and the colleges.

So, what is the trade off for reduced value and less pay?  – workforce

This lever is being used because it is thought that training practices and supervisors will take less money in exchange for having a registrar at a time of workforce shortage. With the supply of overseas trained doctors reduced and a maldistribution of registrars, many practices in regional and rural areas depend on registrars to ensure that their community has continued access to a GP and for business continuity.

Click this link for GPSA’s submission to the Department of Health. 

So, will you continue to supervise registrars if you are not valued and paid less?

I value your thoughts about your future as a supervisor. I can be emailed at chair@gpsa.org.au

Yours in training,

Dr Nicole Higgins

Date reviewed: 07 September 2021

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