When the health minister tells a local journalist that general practice is in its worst shape in the history of Medicare, it's clear our government is not sugar-coating how dire the situation is for people trying to see a GP and for the GPs, their practice managers, nurses and staff, who are trying to provide a fundamental service. We know that waiting lists are long, GPs and their teams are stretched beyond capacity and bulk billing is almost gone. We also know how vital it is that people have good access to GPs because it helps detect problems earlier and prevent more serious illnesses, and it helps people with chronic issues stay out of hospital.
Health minister Mark Butler joined me earlier this month to meet with Winmalee Medical Centre GPs Mike De Vries and Geoffrey Chew to hear first hand the experience of GPs and their patients in Macquarie. Across the electorate, GPs and their teams have worked unrelentingly to support people through COVID, not to mention fire and flood traumas. As the minister told the Blue Mountains Gazette, there is no higher priority for him than fixing the GP crisis that we've inherited. But we know that it's not a quick fix.
Changes that have already come in, like allowing practices to recruit foreign GPs, are a start, but getting more students to choose general practice is also key. Tackling the Medicare rebates, which have been frozen for so long that GPs are in a time warp, is part of the job of the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce, which will report by the end of the year on how to make primary care more affordable for patients and how to improve access, especially after hours. All these issues were canvassed with doctors De Vries and Chew, and I want to thank them for taking time out of their packed days to be the representatives for their colleagues across Macquarie. Pharmacists Sheryn and Sal from Blooms in Springwood also echoed the concerns with an example that when they recommend a customer visit a GP the response is frequently that they can't get an appointment for weeks.
We know the issues. We won't shy away from them and ignore them in the hope that somehow they will magically fix themselves. We'll do what responsible governments do and tackle them step-by-step, just like we have with the cut to prescription prices that comes in from 1 January. This will mean a trip to the pharmacy will be cheaper for millions of Australians, many of them in the Hawkesbury and Blue Mountains, with people paying up to 29 per cent less for PBS scripts, with the maximum general co-payment dropping from $42.52 to $30, saving some patients hundreds of dollars a year. Plus, we've allowed more retirees to access the Commonwealth healthcare card, which changes the income limits so they get even greater savings.
