11. BARBARA STEWART (NZ First) Link to this
to the Minister of Health
Is the Government planning on urgently increasing the number of general practice training places it funds each year; if so, by how many places?
Hon PETE HODGSON (Minister of Health) Link to this
The Government has already funded an increase in the number of general practitioner training places, increasing them to 55, and is currently reviewing whether to lift that increase further.
How is the Government planning to improve working conditions for general practitioners in order to ensure that those who have trained as general practitioners remain in that field, and has it considered providing more employment options for younger general practitioners than the self-employed or small-business model, which now appears to deter medical students from becoming general practitioners?
General practice is generally a private sector activity and not a public sector activity, so the Government does not employ very much at all in the way of general practitioner services. However, the Government’s Primary Health Care Strategy, which was described to me last week by a prominent general practitioner as one of the finest changes that there has been in health in 50 years, expressly addresses the issues that face general practitioners, namely by allowing funding to promote the use of the development of primary health care teams. That strategy is starting to address the very issues that the research of the general practitioner council of the New Zealand Medical Association is throwing up. So we have a very substantial solution coming in the form of the Primary Health Care Strategy. By 1 July next year, $560 million of taxpayers’ funding will be going into that sector.
Ann HartleyWhat feedback has the Minister received from general practitioners on the continuing roll-out of the Government’s Primary Health Care Strategy?
Almost every general practitioner I have spoken to—and I have spoken to dozens so far—says that this Government has done more for primary health care than any Government in living memory. The well-known Auckland general practitioner leader whom I mentioned in my previous answer told me last week that this Government is responsible for the most proactive, enduring, and positive changes to primary health care in 50 years. The Primary Health Care Strategy is welcomed by the general practitioners of New Zealand.
Madam SPEAKERWould the member please be seated. We are really trying in this House not to preface questions with asides or comments. Would the member please just ask the question.
Dr Jonathan Coleman Link to this
Why, when the Government has data from 2001 that shows that it would require a 40 percent increase in general practitioners over the next 20 years, and given that it takes around 15 years to train a general practitioner, have we had to wait until the situation got to crisis point before we had any action?
A general practitioner who takes 15 years to be trained probably should have considered another career choice before he or she embarked on that training. However, the member may be interested to learn that the number of trainees who are sitting the Primex exam—the member will know what I am talking about—has increased from 66 in 2000 to 149 in 2004. So we have had an increase from 66 to 149 in a matter of 5 years—and that member says that this Government is doing nothing! That is a very substantial increase in quality for our registered general practitioners.
Is it correct that the number of general practitioner graduates who are still practising in New Zealand 5 years after graduating is on the decline?
I am afraid I do not know, but I can tell the member that the number of general practitioners practising in New Zealand has risen by about 50 percent in the last 25 years. What is more, with the roll-out of the Primary Health Care Strategy and the increased involvement of practice nurses, physiotherapists, podiatrists, and a lot of other things that begin with “p” we will see the evolution of teamwork, which will allow doctors to spend more time doing what they are trained to do.