GenPro Chair Angus Chambers has welcomed changes to how
first-year GP trainees are employed, saying any measure that
encourages more doctors into general practice is
positive.
“Access to a family doctor is the biggest
challenge facing general practice and therefore our
patients. Many practices across New Zealand are struggling
to recruit doctors, and patients are seeing the consequences
through longer wait times and reduced access to
care.”
“Anything that increases the number of GPs
entering the workforce is a good thing,” Chambers
said.
However, Dr Chambers said the announcement
represents a pipeline intervention rather than a solution to
the workforce pressures currently facing general
practice.
“This change may make it easier for some
doctors to enter GP training, which is welcome. But it’s
important to be clear that this is an HR improvement to the
pipeline of junior doctors. It’s not a solution to the
workforce shortages we are experiencing right
now.”
Dr Chambers noted that even the current number
of GP training places is not always fully taken
up.
“We are still not seeing all the available GP
training vacancies being filled each year. That should tell
us something important about the attractiveness of general
practice as a career.”
He said one of the key reasons
is that incentives for general practice still lag behind
those offered in many other medical
specialties.
“Doctors are making rational career
decisions. When other specialties offer stronger incentives
or more secure career pathways, it’s not surprising many
choose those options.”
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Chambers said simply
increasing the number of training places or changing who
employs trainees i in their first year will not solve the
problem.
“This is the third or fourth government
that has listened to the Royal New Zealand College of
General Practitioners’ advice that increasing training
places will fix the GP shortage. It won’t. It’s only one
piece of a much bigger puzzle.”
He said the
underlying issue continues to be the financial
sustainability of general practice.
“The real
pressure point is funding. The funding going into general
practice has not kept pace with rising operating costs or
the changing and increasingly complex medical needs of New
Zealanders.
“Until we address the sustainability of
general practice, it will remain difficult to attract and
retain enough doctors to meet the needs of
communities.
“After years of under investment by
successive governments, general practice needs further
increases in Health New Zealand capitation funding for it to
stay viable. A similar increase to that delivered in Budget
2025 is needed in 2026,” Dr Chambers says.
He said
GenPro looks forward to continuing to work with the
Government on broader reforms to ensure primary care remains
strong and accessible.
“Strengthening the pipeline
matters, but we also need to make general practice a
sustainable and attractive career for the doctors who will
deliver care to New Zealanders in the decades
ahead.”
GenPro members are owners and providers of
general practices and urgent care centres throughout
Aotearoa New Zealand. For more information visit www.genpro.org.nz
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