More than a third of GPs are planning to leave the profession earlier due to the burden of the new CPD changes.

 
Dr Joe Di Stefano retired from his regional Victoria practice in December 2023, after 50 years as a doctor, but still a couple of years earlier than planned.

Of course, multiple considerations influence retirement, but after years of cumulative increase in bureaucratic and time-wasting red tape, the changes to CPD imposed last year and the floated impractical consent verification for telehealth, finally tipped his decision.

A life-long learner, Dr Di Stefano never had trouble meeting — and well exceeding — the continuing education requirements. He had also been a university medical school clinical tutor for 12 years, and student mentor for decades.

“I have had CPD points coming out of my ears far beyond the minimum since their inception years ago. The points were not my focus; the learning was,” Dr Di Stefano told Healthed.

“I have been ‘reflecting’, ‘reviewing my performance’ and ‘measuring (relevant) outcomes’ for 50 years.”

“Of course, maintenance of high professional standards is of paramount importance,” he added.

Last year he “jumped through the new bureaucratic CPD hoops as a matter of personal principle.”

“I was determined to meet the challenge rather than desert ship,” he explained.

But the “persistent technological time-wasting frustrations” he experienced — including much back-and-forth with the RACGP to resolve IT issues — combined with the “contrived Plan and Measuring Outcomes component, imposed autocratically without evidence for its benefit,” were the last straw.

And he is not alone in hanging up his stethoscope.

A Healthed survey of more than 2200 GPs has found that 30% are bringing forward their retirement plans, thanks to the CPD system changes that were introduced 15 months ago.

Other GPs said they were making plans to leave general practice as a result, or changing the amount of hours they work.

CPD isn’t impacting everyone equally though: 39% of respondents said it had no significant effect on their work-related intentions.

Older GPs are much more likely to be seeking an out than their younger counterparts, according to the survey.

While just 16% of GPs under age 55 said they are bringing forward retirement plans or otherwise planning to leave general practice as a result of the new CPD system, that figure rises to 45% of GPs over age 55.

Breaking it down further, 18% of 45-54 year old GPs reported planning to leave clinical practice as a result of the new CPD system, compared to 39% of GPs aged 55-64 years and 48% of GPs aged 65-74 years.

Part time GPs are also over-represented in the group that is hastening their plans to leave — 43% of those working fewer than 30 hours are planning a premature exit, compared with 30% of full time GPs.

The fewer hours someone worked, the more likely they were to say that they intended to leave earlier as a result of the new CPD.

The results show a slight increase from last August when a Healthed survey found that 26% of GPs were planning a CPD-induced earlier retirement, suggesting the predicted exodus is more than just teething pains as doctors struggled to get used to the new system.

Dr Di Stefano, for one, is well aware of the impact of leaving even slightly earlier than planned given the current workforce shortages.

“That will mean one fewer GP – and one more to replace prematurely,” he acknowledged.

“The many appreciative comments and cards from patients I have cared for over 48 years as a GP, including for saving their lives, represent a far more meaningful ‘outcome measure’ for me. I am sorry for my patients and for my already overloaded colleagues.”