General practitioners

A treating doctor has a clear role in the injury management process, which includes:

  • diagnosis, primary care and coordination of medical treatment
  • establishing, in their opinion, whether the diagnosis does/does not correlate with the injury as described by the patient
  • reviewing the injured worker’s medical condition
  • liaising with the employer or employer’s representative to facilitate an injured worker’s maintenance in or return to work
  • referring for workplace rehabilitation assistance where required
  • reporting specified industrial diseases to WorkSafe within 14 days of the first consultation with the injured worker.

It is not the treating doctor’s role to determine whether a worker has a valid claim under the Workers’ Compensation and Injury Management Act 1981. Medical opinion should be restricted to whether the medical condition could have resulted from the incident reported by the worker and the consequential ability of the worker to perform their work duties (i.e. full capacity for work, some capacity for work or no capacity for any work).

Speaking with the injured worker's employer
Your communication with the employer is of vital importance in the management of your injured workers’ injury. The employer is instrumental in accommodating an early return to work for the injured worker. They must implement a formal return to work plan if you indicate that the worker has some capacity for work.

By working together with the employer, you can assist the injured workers’ return to work in a timely manner and reduce the possibility of further aggravation or recurrence of the injury.

The employer can provide you with a list of the available duties within the workplace. These can then be reviewed by you to determine their appropriateness or suitability and the return to work plan can be developed and implemented.

Clinical Framework
The Clinical Framework for the Delivery of Health Services is an evidence-based guide designed to support healthcare practitioners delivering services to people with compensable injuries.

See the Clinical Framework page to view the PDF and associated information.

Certificates of capacity
Medical practitioners issue certificates of capacity as part of the claims and injury management process.

Access the certificates

The certificates of capacity can be downloaded from the Health provider resources page.

More information

For more resources or further information about the changes, access WorkCover WA’s gpsupport website.

WorkCover WA's gpsupport - online resource for GPs
WorkCover WA’s gpsupport website is designed specifically for general practitioners (GPs). All relevant information for delivering services to injured workers is now in one location.

On gpsupport, GPs and practice staff can find information on:

  • their role in the workers’ compensation scheme
  • WorkCover WA’s fee schedule
  • certificates of capacity
  • health benefits of work
  • how to support work participation
  • clinical framework and other evidence-based principles
  • useful assessment tools for identifying patients (injured workers) who may be at risk of delayed outcomes or measuring the effectiveness of injury management interventions
  • consolidated list of online publications
Guideline for work-related mental health conditions

The Clinical guideline for the diagnosis and management of work-related mental health conditions (the Guideline) has been developed to assist general practitioners (GPs) with the diagnosis and management of work-related mental health conditions.

Along with the Guideline, a short form guideline has also been developed which lists the detailed recommendations and practice points derived from the Guideline, as well as a two page GP summary which provides a snapshot of the recommendations and consensus statements in the Guideline.

The Guideline and other documents can be accessed here.