An independent review of the GP funding system is urgently needed, says General Practitioners Aotearoa (GPA).
“For years now, the government has been underfunding the GP system, while giving the green light to glory projects,” says GPA chair Dr Buzz Burrell.
Labour’s shadow Minister of Health, Dr Ayesha Verrall, today announced that if elected, Labour would assemble an independent body to review GP funding.
“My sincere hope is that such a group will be sensible and well-informed,” Burrell says.
“If they are armed with all the latest international research on health system funding, it will be clear that redirecting funds to general practice will keep our population healthier and save government money.”
Research shows that every $1 of government funding spent in the primary healthcare system saves $10 down the line.
“Dr Verrall is quite right to say the underfunding is ‘by design’. We just can’t trust politicians to get this right,” Burrell says.
“GP isn’t flashy, it doesn’t get headlines like MPs cutting the ribbon on a new hospital or highway. So it gets overlooked.”
New Zealand already has a shortage of GPs, with recent surveys showing that half the current workforce plans to retire in the next 10 years.
The trickle of newly trained and immigrant GPs cannot replace those retiring.
“The grim fact is that when there aren’t enough GPs, people get sick and die,” Burrell says.
“They wait weeks for an appointment, their health declines, they drop out of the workforce, stop paying taxes and end up in expensive hospital care.
“I think that’s a horrible outcome for a human, and it’s certainly not helping the government coffers.”
GPs are funded by patient fees, and an outdated government “capitation” system that allocates funding per patient enrolled at a clinic.
GPA members report that capitation leaves many clinics grossly underfunded, while allowing unethical clinics to take advantage of the system by enrolling more patients than they can safely service.
