The Taxpayers’ Union says Labour’s promise of three
“free” (taxpayer-funded) GP visits won’t be worth much
if New Zealanders can’t see a GP in the first place, with
1 in 7 GP practices unable to provide an appointment for
more than a month. Instead, Labour’s policy looks more like
a cheap political gimmick to justify a new tax than a
serious health solution.
This morning, researchers at
the Taxpayers’ Union conducted a mystery spot audit of 14
randomly selected GP clinics across New Zealand, asking when
an enrolled patient could get the next available
appointment. The average wait time was more than a week (6.4
business days), and two clinics were unable to offer a
single appointment for nearly a month.
“These
results show the real barrier to primary healthcare isn’t
the price of an appointment, it’s getting one, unlike what
Labour would have you believe,” said Tory Relf, Head of
Communications at the Taxpayers’ Union.
“Free GP
visits are meaningless if the doctor can’t see you until
Christmas. People aren’t asking for a new tax-funded
bureaucracy, just to see a doctor before their condition
gets worse.”
The Taxpayers’ Union says New
Zealand’s GP system is already stretched to breaking
point.
“GPs are restricted in what they can charge
and how they run their practices. There’s a de-facto price
cap on services, so even wealthy suburbs with patients
willing to pay more can’t attract enough
GPs.”
“And these numbers understate the crisis.
Thousands of Kiwis can’t even find a local GP clinic
accepting new enrolments. No wonder A&Es are overflowing
and our doctors are packing their bags for
Australia.”
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The Taxpayers’ Union is urging political
parties to focus on boosting GP workforce capacity, not
marketing gimmicks.
“Ramping up demand by
subsidising the wealthiest households at a time when there
aren’t enough appointments as it is, is simply lunacy. If
anything, this policy is more likely to drive people into
attending A&E unnecessarily when they can’t get into a
primary care provider.”
“Labour’s policy reads like
it was written for a campaign ad, not a health system in
distress.”
