Emergency departments are being clogged by thousands of patients who should be seeing a GP instead.

A new report released by the Productivity Commission has found around 3,000 patients visit emergency departments daily when they should be going to the local doctor or pharmacist.

President of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Michael Gannon, tells Ben Fordham it’s an inefficient use of the health system.

“In an ideal world, the right patient would go to the right place.

“There’s a lot of people who could be much better served by the expertise of a GP.”

Dr Gannon says the triage system does work well to prioritise those most in need.

Click PLAY below for the full interview