Capacity and workforce issues will
need to be addressed before Labour’s promise of free doctors
visits can become a reality, the head of General Practice NZ
says.
The party will campaign
on a 28 percent tax on gains made after July 2027, with
the family home and farms exempt.
The money raised –
$700
million a year over a four-year forecast period – will
fund three free GP visits a year for all New
Zealanders.
The plan has been criticised by the
government, with Finance
Minister Nicola Willis calling it “a terrible idea”
while Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said it would be “a
tax on every single business in New Zealand”.
General
Practice NZ chairperson Dr Bryan Betty said it was a
positive that a major political party was focusing on
general practice and developing policy to take to voters at
a time when there were existing problems such as funding,
access and capacity.
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However, general capacity was
already working at full capacity and the workforce would
need to be expanded.
Labour is confident the policy
can be met within the current workforce.
Health
spokesperson Dr Ayesha Verrall has said GPs would be funded
through capitation increases, which alongside funding for
more clinical triage systems and AI tools was estimated to
free up 4.58 million appointments a year.
However,
tools such as AI were already being extensively used within
general practice, Betty said.
“That does save time …
I think in the next two or three years you’re going to see
that type of technology leap forward in a lot of ways. It
will free up capacity but still we do need to build the
workforce within general practice over time and that is a
really important component of how we move the health system
forward.”
Dr Betty said while there would be criticism
of Labour’s free visits being available to everyone no
matter what their income, it was important to put the
spotlight on primary healthcare.
Already more than
half the country’s population had their GP visits subsidised
so there were arguments in favour of giving everyone the
three free visits, however, he understood why some would be
critical.
Willis told Morning Report today the
leak of the policy showed there were ructions within the
party in part aimed at undermining Chris Hipkins’
leadership.
“Already civil war is breaking out in the
Labour Party over whether this tax is wide enough and
yesterday Chris Hipkins couldn’t even rule out whether or
not it was someone in his own caucus trying to white hand
and undermine him.”
She also said using funding from
the tax to pay for the free GP visits would lengthen waiting
lists.
However, Labour’s deputy leader Carmel Sepuloni
said there was overwhelming support for a capital gains tax
among New Zealanders.
Kiwis appreciated Labour would
spend the money on the health system, which they knew was
under huge pressure.
Both low and middle inclome
earners were struggling to meet the costs of seeing a
GP.
Sepuloni said the party has plans to help doctors
meet the demand and Dr Verrall has been working closely with
the sector.
“There’s a few different components but
one of them is the ability to triage people over the phone
where they don’t necessarily need to go into a
GP.”
Other GPs enthusiastic but warn sector in
crisis
The general practice sector has welcomed the
announcement, but was keen to hear more details about
funding for the sector.
The Royal College of GPs has
said it supported anything that increased access to
healthcare and decreased barriers, but was also concerned
GPs did not have the capacity to deal with any increased
demand.
Blenheim GP Dr Buzz Burrell, who is also
chairperson of advocacy group General Practitioners
Aotearoa, did not expect a “flood” on the system, but said
the problem was with the system itself.
He praised the
announcement, but said general practice was in crisis. He
said estimates showed the sector was around 500 GPs
short.
“It is a start, it is a gesture. However, what
it’s doing is basically saying someone else will pay
somebody to go and visit their general practitioner under
the system as it stands at the moment. And the system at the
moment is flawed.”
Too many practices were not viable,
and were over-enrolling and under-servicing, with hospitals
having to pick up the slack, Burrell said.
“If we do
have three visits paid for by the government, how much is
that going to be? Is it the genuine full cost of seeing a
doctor, or is it the subsidised cost? Is it going to be
enough, or is it going to be a gesture? It will be nice to
know the details of that.”
Pacific health leader Sir
Collin Tukuitonga said three visits a year would be more
than enough for some, but for others with more complex needs
it probably would not be.
However, he said, the
government had to land somewhere and three looked to be the
average.
“I like the fact that it’s a simple idea.
They’ve targeted one of the pressure points in our health
system. They’re redistributing the wealth in Aotearoa, so I
think on a number of fronts it’s a good decision. Time will
tell, of course, what happens in
practice.”
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