General practitioners (GPs) are happy that well-overdue changes are coming to the Government’s GP funding system.
Minister of Health Simeon Brown announced on Friday that the Government would re-weight the capitation system, which allocates annual funding to GP clinics based on the number of patients enrolled.
General Practitioners Aotearoa (GPA) chair Dr Buzz Burrell says the shake-up will help the GPs who are most stretched better serve their patients.
“Our members talk about capitation all the time, and the reason for that is the current system is unfair,” he says.
“A 40-year old man with perfect health gets the same funding allocation as a 40-year old man who might have diabetes and a chronic lung condition from living in a mouldy house.”
The fees patients pay only cover part of the cost of an appointment; most of the rest is made up by capitation.
When a patient has to see their doctor frequently, requires long appointments and lots of follow-up work, clinics can lose money.
Often, clinics have to impose higher fees on other patients to subsidise those costs.
“Clinics that serve populations with high levels of chronic illness are at constant risk of going under,” Burrell says.
“This puts an immense amount of pressure on the GPs that work there, and the GPs that own the clinics. They often have to rush patients through, and do follow-up work in their own time. It’s leading to burnout, and GPs leaving the profession.”
Burrell says the current system also contributes to worse healthcare for patients, and increased hospital costs funded by the taxpayer.
“When GPs don’t have the resources to see patients when they need us, those patients get worse and end up with expensive ED visits or long stays in hospital.”
The new weighting proposed by the government will take into account the age, sex, chronic conditions, location and hardship of the patients enrolled at clinics.
“We’re really happy that this means funding will go where it is most needed,” Burrell says.
“And we’re also thrilled with the announcement that the bulk of GP trainee fees will be funded by the Government. The cost has been a huge barrier to doctors specialising as GPs.”
The new capitation weighting will likely come into effect in July 2026, and the Government is yet to release the full details.,
“We note this still isn’t a perfect system, and GPA looks forward to continuing to work with the Minister on improvements that will lead to more patients getting the care they need from their GP.”
