GPs Vote 'NO' to Fee Regulation

Health News: Press Release

For Immediate Release, 30 May 2006

General Practitioners Overwhelmingly Vote ‘NO’ to Government’s Planned Fee Regulation

A survey of New Zealand GPs has shown overwhelming opposition to the government’s plans to regulate the fees that GPs charge for patients aged 45 to 64 years.

The first independently-conducted survey into this issue was conducted by HealthTracker.co.nz, an online community for GPs set up by Auckland market research company Research Solutions Ltd. Over 500 GPs have registered to be surveyed online, and when asked last Thursday 25th to vote on this issue, 163 had responded by 5pm Tuesday 30th.

When asked:

“Do you agree with Government plans to introduce fee regulation for 45-64 year olds?”

- 79% answered “No”

- 6% answered “Yes”

- 13% answered “It depends”

- 2% answered “Don’t know”

The margin of error on the sample of 163 is 7.5%.

Head Researcher at HealthTracker.co.nz, Jonathan Dodd, states that such a universal response is rare when researching public policy…

“There are often a great many points of view when researching health issues, but the magnitude and uniformity of this response is incredible. We established HealthTracker to help our clients consult with GPs, and this non-commercial survey was one we put out as a service to our GPs – to let them have their say on a current and controversial issue.”

ENDS

© Scoop Media