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By Ruth Hill of Rnz
One in three people is waiting for more than two weeks for a GP appointment, while more than one in six waits three or four weeks, or even more, according to the first RNZ-Reid research survey.
The 1000 people survey – between 21 and 27 March – found that about 60% were able to get a GP appointment within a week.
Health Minister Simeon Brown said long waiting times meant that some people were not seeing a general practitioner.
“The number of people who say ‘punctuality of commitments’ became their main concern or the main reason why they did not access their general practitioner – which increased to about 25% of people of 10 or 11%.
“So accessing GPS is a priority for the government and that is why we take several actions and we will continue to analyze what needs to be done.”
The minister was citing New Zealand’s latest health research, which was also mentioned in the Clinical and Clinical Safety Review of Health NZ last week.
He noted that access was “unequal”, with people Maori, Pasifika and disabled people most likely to report not visiting a general practitioner due to waiting times.
Brown said the government was prioritizing primary care, with a boost for capitation financing (money GPS receive to registered patients), telesaúde support and various workforce initiatives.
He also wants to introduce a target for the waiting times in primary care and asked the authorities advice on it.
But New Zealand’s overall practice Bryan Betty – a Porirua GP – urged caution.
“If you put a target that pushes the system toward acute care, you can boost chronic care such as diabetes, heart disease, mental health problems, and this is a bad place to be.
“We have to be very, very careful with the targets.”
NZ President College of GPS, Samantha Murton, said that when Britain tried to institute a 48-hour goal under Tony Blair’s labor government 20 years ago, she left for Culatra.
The clinics refused to accept any reserves more than two days in advance.
“So that was a little disastrous,” Murton said.
“The only results that we know how to make a difference are: coverage of care, continuity of care and availability.
“But ‘access’ is not everything – access is also to access the right person.”
Patients waited a long time to see a general practitioner because there was not enough of them, said Murton.
The reason the doctors did not want to go into general practice was because the financing was very low.
Victoria University research published last week showed that real funding had widely covered since 2009.
“If this is the first step to Minister Brown, towards a focus on primary care, which was the goal of health reform, then excellent.
“We just need to make sure it’s not the only step.”
Dr. Betty agreed that the government deserved credit for “starting to turn the dial.”
“This will not be resolved overnight, but there needs to be a focus on general practice and primary care to solve the problems we are now seeing the system.”
Health defined to be a hot political issue
Politicians of all tracks are aware that health – or rather the sick state of the health system – will probably be a burning political issue in the next elections.
The first -minister Christopher Luxon was asked how long he thought the GP waiting times.
“It can take up to two weeks, which is why we take so long to elaborate what we can do to accelerate GP visits and support the particular primary care sector.”
Labor Party leader Chris Hipkins is MP for Remutaka, who has acute GPS scarcity.
“It may take weeks, it may take a long time. I heard about people waiting up to six weeks to get an appointment to see the general practitioner, and this is clearly unacceptable.”
The co-leader of Te Pati Maori, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, said in rural areas that they were typically “more than four weeks” to see a general practitioner.
“The whole cycle of not being able to enter your general practitioner, to go to Ed, not being able to pay the pharmacist, is a really scary perspective of the disparity in our health system.”
Green Party Co-leader clinic, Marama Davidson, offers online appointments.
“But for a face-to-face consultation, my own experience is more than three weeks. But for a disease, I remember a time when you can get an appointment that day. I think that’s what we should look for.”
ACT leader David Seymour admitted that he could not remember the last time he saw his doctor.
“You should come in a week, of course it is sometimes more urgent and you need to get in a few hours. Surely I heard from people who have taken three or four weeks and very upset.”
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