A minimum $6 fee to see a GP would lead more patients to seek treatment in overcrowded emergency departments including those with conditions that had deteriorated because of deferred care, doctors say.

Australasian College of Emergency Medicine president Anthony Cross said any disincentive to see a GP would send patients elsewhere.

Illustration: Ron Tandberg

''EDs [emergency departments] do have a reputation of being able to see and treat anything - there is a sense of a one-stop shop - so if they have to pay $6 that might sway people to come to an ED,'' he said.