General Practitioners aged over 70 may soon need to get regular health checks to keep working, after the Australian Medical Board Ahpra revealed a spike in complaints about older doctors.
Doctors aged over 70 are 81 per cent more likely to have a complaint filed against them by patients than doctors aged under 70, according to Ahpra.
The overall rate of complaints against “late career doctors” has doubled over the past eight years in a “disturbing” increase, the medical board also said.
Specifically, for doctors aged between 70-74, complaints have increased by more than 130 per cent, going from 32 complaints per 1000 doctors in 2015 to 74 complaints per 1000 doctors in 2023.
Complaints about doctors aged 80 and over have increased by 180 per cent for every 1000 doctors between 2015 and 2023.
In contrast, complaints about doctors aged 70 and under have increased by 63 per cent over the same period.
In response to the spike in complaints, Ahpra is proposing health checks for doctors over 70 years old to “safely extend the practice of late-career medical practitioners”.
The proposal includes three options, including introducing an “extensive and detailed” fitness-to-practice assessment for all doctors aged 70, general checks for GPs aged 70 and older or simply doing nothing and keeping the system the way it is.
Board Chair, Dr Anne Tonkin AO backed the health check-ups as the best option.
“It’s in line with all public health screening measures. Early detection means early management, which can mean preventing avoidable risks,” Tonkin said.
‘We are looking for effective and practical ways to support late career doctors to stay in safe practice through health checks that will identify and enable doctors to address any risks that come from increasing age.”
The Medical Board of Australia is allowing the public to comment on the three options.
More information can be found here.
