General practitioners are asking the government to allocate health budget to GPs on the front line.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday announced a $5.5 billion increase in spending on frontline health over the next four years.
Details are yet to come on what qualifies as “frontline health”, or exactly how this money will be spent.
Initiatives outlined in the Budget include increased funding for hospital and specialist services, digital health services and Pharmac.
“I sincerely hope the government realises that spending this budget on telehealth isn’t going to solve any of the big problems,” says General Practitioners Aotearoa chair Dr Buzz Burrell.
There is budget allocated for 53,000 additional general practice enrolments, but no detail on how GPs will be made available to see those patients.
“However, there is an opportunity for the government to make some really clever decisions that will get New Zealanders the care they deserve, cheaply.”
GPs are the very front line of healthcare, Burrell says.
“Here’s a revolutionary idea: earmark $1 billion over the four years to increasing GP salaries.
“That’s going to stem the massive flow of GPs retiring and shifting to other jobs. It’s going to bring some GPs back out of retirement, back home from overseas. It’s going to tell trainee doctors ‘hey, GP is a viable career for you’.”
Increasing the number of working GPs means more patients can be seen when they need it, at lower cost.
“It means healthier Kiwis, fewer hospital visits, government back in surplus. Everyone’s happy,” Burrell says.
Budget 2026 did not include any explicit packages for cost of living relief.
“Kiwis’ wallets are suffering,” Burrell says. “And the government wallet is suffering, too. We need smart expenditure that will reduce healthcare costs for patients and for taxpayers.
“Improving access to healthcare is a cost of living benefit.”
