Access To Family Doctor Services Is Reducing

People are unable to access some essential family doctor
services as the services are being cut due to chronic
workforce shortages and underfunding in general
practice.

A survey of general practices has found more
than half (53%) of essential family doctor clinics have
reduced the services they are offering. The General Practice
Owners Association of New Zealand (GenPro) survey found a
significant number (36.5%) of practices have completely
withdrawn some services altogether.

“We knew the
situation was desperate out there for our members, but this
survey highlights exactly how tough it is and how the health
of New Zealanders is being compromised because essential
family doctor services are struggling to find and retain
doctors and nurses to deliver the health services we need in
our community,” GenPro Chief Executive Philip Grant
says.

“The reality is people are having to wait
longer to see their family doctor and that is having
knock-on effects on people’s health as well as in our
after hours’ and emergency departments. This is a
significant worry as we head into a winter which experts are
predicting will be particularly challenging.”

The
member survey attracted 185 responses from general practices
across the country and took place between October and
December last year (2022).

It found only 45% of family
doctors are accepting new enrolments. Mr Grant says this
means 55% are not taking on new patients and will leave many
people in vulnerable and high needs communities missing out
on subsidised health care from a family doctor.

The
survey found three in every five (61%) general practices
have a current vacancy for a GP and nearly half (46%) say
they lost at least one nurse in the previous three
months.

Mr Grant says the situation for nurses has
considerably worsened since the survey was completed, as the
pay gap between general practice nurses and those working in
hospitals for Te Whatu Ora has increased significantly as a
result of an interim pay equity ruling by the Employment
Relations Authority for Te Whatu Ora-employed nurses in
December 2022. “This ruling is making it even more
challenging for members to attract and retain nurses within
family doctor services due to the pay gap now being between
22% and 27%.”

“We also know the doctor vacancy rate
would be significantly higher if existing, older GPs who
wish to retire did so. The shortage is leading to
substantial additional workloads on the remaining
GPs.”

The survey found half of all practices had a
current vacancy for a nurse, resulting in those practices
missing an average 30% of their required nursing
workforce.

He says the survey results back GenPro’s
On The Brink report released in November 2022, which
found general practices are stretched and under threat and
needed urgent support in order to deliver essential family
doctor services across New Zealand. The report initiated a
public awareness campaign seeking support from policy makers
and politicians to address the
issues.

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