WITH severe bushfire conditions predicted this summer, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) is calling for GPs to be better embedded in disaster planning so they can care for impacted communities.

RACGP president Nicole Higgins said GPs play a critical role in supporting communities impacted by disasters and could do much more if they are better embedded in disaster planning and management.

“As we’ve seen in past bushfires, floods and cyclones, GPs play a key role caring for people and communities when disasters strike, as well as during the aftermath and recovery,” Dr Higgins said.

“But GPs who’ve been on the frontline during bushfires have told us that they’re held back from doing all they can due to lack of consistent communication and coordination from the disaster response team. This is why GPs need to be embedded in disaster planning and management, to ensure the right systems are in place before a crisis strikes.

“GPs also need to be more involved in emergency planning and response at state and local level, where much of the ground-level planning takes place.

“People may not know that every practice does disaster planning as part of general practice accreditation, so, we are prepared for disasters.”