The Australian Medical Association (AMA) said on Wednesday it had recommended its members increase fees two percent from November 1, meaning a standard GP visit of under 20 minutes will increase $2.

For patients whose doctor does not bulk bill – which means they accept the Medicare rate as full payment for the consultation- fees will increase to $41, as the current rebate is $37.

The Medicare rebate was frozen by the federal government and will remain at that rate until June 30, 2020.

Official figures show bulk billing for GP services are at record levels of 85.1 per cent - which essentially means 85.1 per cent of all services by GPs result in no out-of-pocket expenses for patients.

Roger Penrith, Griffith City Council’s Aboriginal Liaison Officer was concerned by the impacts it will have.

“People may not be able to afford to go to doctors because the cost of living is already so high,” he said.

“The place that will feel the brunt of the impact is the Emergency departments. There will be people who will wait until it is urgent to seek medical attention.

“From an indigenous perspective we are lucky to have access to the Aboriginal Medical Service here in Griffith. If something were to affected that it would have quite an impact on the local community.”

Minister for Health Sussan Ley understood the reasons for the price rise and remind people the Australian Government does not employ doctors.

“We respect and we value that doctors are small businesses and they have scope to set their fees according to their wishes, their business model, and their patient cohort,” she said.

“I'm delighted that in this space we have a bulk-billing rate of 85.1 per cent.”

Minister Ley was not concerned about the potential for patients who don’t go the bulk billing doctors having to pay more next month.