Your GP is the person best placed to hold all the parts of major weight loss together: tests, medicines, allied health, mental health and, later, referral to a specialist. As healthdirect puts it, if you need several health professionals, your GP can coordinate your care (healthdirect). Using that role well saves time, money and repeated explanations.
This topic is also in our free guide, Health Checks and Support. Get it emailed to you
Why a regular GP matters
Weight loss runs over months or years, and the useful information is in the trend: weight, blood pressure, blood sugar, iron levels, mood. A GP who sees you regularly can spot a falling ferritin or a medicine that needs reducing long before it causes trouble. It also matters for Medicare. Several of the plans below now have to come from your usual practice, so it pays to have one.
What to ask at your appointment
Book a longer appointment if you want to cover weight properly. Questions worth bringing:
- “Which blood tests should I have now, and how often should we repeat them?” (see health checks and tests)
- “Do any of my current medicines need changing as I lose weight?” Blood pressure and diabetes medicines often do.
- “Do my snoring or tiredness justify a sleep study?”
- “Am I eligible for a chronic condition management plan, so I can see a dietitian or exercise physiologist?”
- “Would a mental health plan help me, or should I be screened for an eating disorder?”
- “When the time comes, will you refer me to a specialist plastic surgeon?”
Chronic condition management plans
If you have a chronic condition such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure or osteoarthritis, your GP can prepare a care plan. From 1 July 2025 a single GP Chronic Condition Management Plan replaced the older GP Management Plan and Team Care Arrangements. If you are registered with MyMedicare you access the plan through the practice where you are registered; if not, through your usual GP. To keep access to Medicare-subsidised allied health services, the plan needs to have been prepared or reviewed in the last 18 months (Department of Health, Disability and Ageing).
For weight loss, the allied health professionals most often involved are an Accredited Practising Dietitian, an exercise physiologist and a psychologist. Ask your GP how many subsidised visits your plan covers this year and whether there will be a gap fee. Amy Kellner APD works with Dr Kumar’s patients on nutrition before and after surgery; see Amy Kellner APD.
Mental health and eating disorder plans
Weight, mood and eating are closely linked, and support is available through Medicare. Under Better Access, a Mental Health Treatment Plan gives up to 10 individual and 10 group sessions with a psychologist or other eligible provider each calendar year, starting with a course of up to six sessions and then a review. The plan comes from your MyMedicare practice or, from 1 November 2025, your usual medical practitioner (Department of Health, Disability and Ageing).
Binge eating disorder is recognised under a separate Eating Disorder Treatment and Management Plan, which also covers bulimia nervosa and other specified feeding or eating disorders. Eligibility is based on a standard questionnaire score and how often binge or compensatory behaviours occur, among other criteria. An eligible person can access up to 40 psychological and 20 dietetic services over 12 months. A GP, psychiatrist or paediatrician can prepare the plan (Department of Health, Disability and Ageing; Butterfly Foundation). See mental health, body image and major weight loss for more.
Weight-loss medicines and surgery
If you are taking, or thinking about, a GLP-1 medicine or other weight-loss medication, decisions about starting, stopping or changing it belong with your prescribing doctor. Your GP also needs to know about it before any anaesthetic. The medications and medication before surgery pages explain the issues to discuss.
If bariatric surgery is on the table, your GP can refer you to a bariatric surgeon and will usually manage your long-term blood tests afterwards (healthdirect). See bariatric surgery.
Referral to a specialist plastic surgeon
When your weight has settled and loose skin is the main concern, ask your GP for a referral to a specialist plastic surgeon. You cannot get a Medicare rebate for a specialist consultation unless you have a referral from your GP within the previous 12 months, or from another specialist within the previous three months (healthdirect). A GP referral lasts 12 months from the specialist’s first appointment with you, unless the GP writes a different period on it (Services Australia).
A good referral also gives the surgeon your history in one place. It helps if it includes your highest and current weight, how you lost the weight and when it stabilised, your medical conditions and medicines, and recent blood results.
Where to next
- Health checks and tests during weight loss
- Mental health, body image and major weight loss
- When is the right time for skin removal?
- Costs and funding
If your weight has settled and loose skin is now the main issue, ask your GP for a referral and book a consultation with Dr Kumar, or start with the readiness assessment.
All surgery carries risk. Individual results vary. Dr Rohit Kumar (MED0001630444) Registered medical practitioner, specialist plastic surgeon (specialist registration in surgery – plastic surgery).
Sources
- healthdirect: The role of a GP
- Services Australia: Referrals for specialist treatment
- Department of Health, Disability and Ageing: Changes to MBS chronic disease management arrangements
- Department of Health, Disability and Ageing: Better Access FAQs (2026)
- Department of Health, Disability and Ageing: MBS fact sheet for people with eating disorders (2026)
- Butterfly Foundation: About Medicare eating disorder plans
- healthdirect: Guide to bariatric surgery