Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | News Video | Crime | Employers | Housing | Immigration | Legal | Local Govt. | Maori | Welfare | Unions | Youth | Search

 

GPs Keen To Hear More About Prime Minister’s Focus On Primary Health Care

The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners are keen to hear more about the Prime Minister’s focus on primary health care the comments she made to media yesterday.

Appearing on The AM Show, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, in response to comments about New Zealand’s emergency departments being overrun, that she’d, ‘like to see us really focus on preventing people from ending up in ED in the first place.’

President of the College, Dr Samantha Murton said, "we couldn’t agree more because that’s our focus too and we’re currently hampered in doing it.

"General practitioners - where the majority of New Zealanders get their primary health care - are a workforce under immense pressure with a shortage of GPs across the country, GPs being stressed and burnt out, and mountains of paperwork because we are doing our absolutely best to deliver quality healthcare in a broken health system.

"These are all issues that we addressed with Minister of Health Andrew Little at a meeting on 12 March and ones that we’re very keen to resolve."

Tomorrow (Wednesday 31 March) the College will share the results of its biennial Workforce Survey, which will back up the significance of the issues within general practice, and the unsustainability of the primary health care system long-term.

The Prime Minister’s full comments, that people come into emergency departments with, ‘preventable illnesses that have just got away on us [because] they haven’t been treated properly in primary care’ didn’t go down well with the sector.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

Dr Bryan Betty spent his day yesterday working at his practice in Cannons Creek and it was a challenging day. He is also the medical director of the College and says, "the professionalism, dedication, and hard work of our colleagues is widely recognised and these comments don’t reflect that.

"I’d like to invite the Prime Minister out to my practice to see first-hand the range and complexity of cases that GPs see every working day.

"We know there are significant issues in the sector, and we need reform; we’re asking for support at a Government level to ensure the sustainability of community medicine in New Zealand," he says.

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines


Gordon Campbell: On The US Opposition To Mortgage Interest Deductibility For Landlords


Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don't think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of political capital by giving landlords a huge $2.9 billion tax break via interest deductibility, while still preaching the need for austerity to the disabled, and to everyone else...
More


 
 

Government: Concerns Conveyed To China Over Cyber Activity
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity... More

ALSO:


Government: GDP Decline Reinforces Government’s Fiscal Plan

Declining GDP for the December quarter reinforces the importance of restoring fiscal discipline to public spending and driving more economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says... More

ALSO:


Government: Humanitarian Support For Gaza & West Bank

Winston Peters has announced NZ is providing a further $5M to respond to the extreme humanitarian need in Gaza and the West Bank. “The impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict on civilians is absolutely appalling," he said... More


Government: New High Court Judge Appointed

Judith Collins has announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister Jason Scott McHerron as a High Court Judge. Justice McHerron graduated from the University of Otago with a BA in English Literature in 1994 and an LLB in 1996... More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.