GPs Get On Board Workers Comp

Doctors will soon be more closely involved in the workers compensation process thanks to a new program that will pay them for their contribution and provide high-level training.

NSW Labor Council OHS and workers compensation coordinator Mary Yaager says the NSW Government is making a number of changes to ensure GPs have greater a role in the scheme, including the establishment of a three tiered dispute resolution scheme that involves doctors.

"In the past doctors have been reluctant to get involved in the process because of the time involved and because only 10% of their practice is workers compensation," Yaager says.

"GPs have always outsourced this role to everyone else in the system, including lawyers, physiotherapists, and rehab counsellors. But this new structure has encouraged doctors to come on board," she says.

Doctors will now be paid for the time involved in administering the return to work process, for phonecalls made to employers and treatment providers, for conducting workplace assessments, and for completing return to work plans.

The NSW Government has also funded a high-level education program for GPs in the workers compensation system, which will soon be rolled out by the NSW Division of General Practitioners.

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