After clawing its way up from rock bottom approval ratings in 2018, the College is still getting positive marks, but they’re steadily slipping…

GP sentiment toward the College appears to be cooling, after hitting a high point last year — possibly reflecting a post pandemic boon that replaced abysmal ratings in the two years prior — longitudinal Healthed survey data suggests.

Would you recommend the college to another GP?

Healthed has been tracking the RACGP’s Net Promoter Score — one of the most common metrics businesses and organisations use to measure client satisfaction — since 2018.

That year the College scored -50, which all organisations would regard as a failing grade. Their score rose to -26 in 2020 — an improvement, but still dismal and certainly nothing to boast about.

Interestingly, in its FY2019-20 annual report, the College reported an overall Net Promoter Score of +51.9 based on their own survey of 534 participants. This is a very good score, but it is completely inconsistent with Healthed’s surveys of GPs at the coalface. Notably, subsequent annual reports have not mentioned their Net Promoter Score.

The RACGP’s positive rating peaked post-pandemic with a score of +27 in August 2022. Although declining, a Net Promoter Score close to 30 is generally considered good, as it means the organisation has significantly more fans than critics.

Downward trend

Healthed’s latest surveys include particularly robust sample sizes. In April 2023, the College’s score had dropped just slightly to +22. That was right around the time an unpopular means-tested fee system was announced.

In the last six months the College’s score has dipped to +5 in our survey of 2,304 GPs. When we include only those GPs who are currently RACGP members, the College scores +10.

That sharp decline comes despite the RACGP’s self-declared wins, such as the tripled bulk billing incentive and the MyMedicare voluntary patient enrolment scheme, as well as picking up the cudgel with regard to payroll tax.

So although sentiment toward the College remains much better than five years ago, the recent dip suggests that sentiment is sliding. Most organisations would consider taking measures now to address member gripes and shore up support to reduce the chances that the downtrend becomes a reversion back to pre-pandemic levels.

Net Promoter Score explained

Net Promoter Score is widely used by many organisations to monitor customers’ satisfaction over time. Each customer is asked “How likely is it that you would recommend [the organisation] to a friend or colleague?” and gives a score from zero to ten.

Those selecting 9 or 10 are considered ‘promoters’. They highly recommend this organisation and would promote it eagerly amongst friends and colleagues. People who select 7 or 8 are considered ‘passives’. They recommend the organisation but not as strongly as the promoters. Those who select 6 and below are considered ‘detractors’ who would typically not recommend the organisation.

To get an overall score for the organisation, the percentage of ‘detractors’ is subtracted from the percentage of ‘promoters’.

Net Promoter Scores range from the lowest possible score, negative 100, to the highest possible score, positive 100.