College celebrates work of GPs

College celebrates work of GPs

The fifth World Family Doctors' Day is being celebrated internationally today, and the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (RNZCGP) is praising the work of GPs around New Zealand.

“As expert generalists and the doctors most often seen by New Zealanders and their families, GPs form a vital part of our health system and the delivery of healthcare close to home,” says RNZCGP President Tim Malloy.

Dr Malloy says New Zealand faces the same issues as other developed countries with an ageing population and an increase in patients with inter-related health conditions as the incidence of non-communicable diseases increases.

“There is no doubt that over the coming years, there will be increasing pressure on general practice as more is expected of it, and the divisions between primary and secondary care become more blurred. We need to be ready for this with the right resources.

“The future of the general practice workforce is one of the College’s key focuses. The increasing number of students coming out of New Zealand medical schools over the next few years, coupled with a significant slow-down in medical workforce migration between countries, means that there is a real opportunity to introduce more postgraduate registrars to general practice.

“New Zealanders make around 55,000 visits to a GP each day and 14 million visits each year, so the demands and the medical challenges are large and varied. We need to showcase the challenges and rewards that being a GP brings,” says Dr Malloy.

The annual World Family Doctors' Day is an initiative of WONCA, the World Organization of Family Doctors, and the College is proud to mark World Family Doctor Day with other family doctors around the world.

ENDS

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