The president of the Australian Medical Association Dr Steve Hambleton has said a forum was necessary to discuss the future of providing medical care to the country’s elderly.

Citing a 2012 aged care survey by the AMA which found older Australians living in residential aged care had limited access to medical treatment, he’s calling for a major rethink.

Video consultation, something the National Broadband Network could make an inexpensive reality, is something Dr Hambleton wants included in Medicare rebates.

GP video consultations would "mean residents of aged care facilities could receive timely quality health care without medical practitioners sacrificing time in their busy practices," he said.

In a shocking rise from just over a fifth of people surveyed in 2008, nearly one third of respondents say they have decreased visits to patients in residential aged care.

The survey found that older practitioners in the medical workforce were providing care to older Australians and those in aged care. More significantly, 15% of those practitioners planned to reduce their visits.

"Improving IT facilities would overcome the technological barriers to the entry of younger medical practitioners into the aged care sector," said Dr Hambleton.