GP funding boost: Sector to receive up to 13.89% more this year

By Rowan Quinn, RNZ

General practitioners will get up to 13.89% more funding this year in a new agreement the Government hopes will eventually lead to faster care.

Health Minister Simeon Brown said the $175 million increase was the biggest – by more than double – since the current funding system began.

GPs have been crying out for more money, saying their sector is in crisis and doctors are leaving.

They were pleased to get a boost – but noted only some of them would be able to achieve the full 13.89%.

GPs received government funding on a capitation or money-per-patient in their practice system, and had been in talks with the Government over the funding announced on Tuesday.

One of the negotiators, Christchurch GP and GenPro chair Angus Chambers, said the boost would help.

Dr Angus Chambers helped negotiate the increase. Photo / George Heard

“We’re actually quite pleased. It’s a bit conditional so there will be some people who don’t do as well out of this as perhaps we need them to do but, in general, this is a reasonably significant investment, and greater than we’ve seen for some time.”

The increase to the most basic funding was about 6.4%, he said.

To earn the full 13.89%, GPs would have to reach a series of incentives, he said.

For instance, clinics would get a childhood immunisation boost if they were able to give 95% of babies in their care their six-week vaccinations by the time they were 3 months old.

That would not be doable for doctors with very few babies in their practice, and could be difficult in general because of a change in attitude to vaccinations, Chambers said.

Rebuilding the health system

Another incentive relied on doctors signing up to give general, non-medical-specific data to the Government to help with its planning.

The minister said the increase was part of the government’s plan to rebuild the foundations of the health system, with primary care at the centre.

“Too many New Zealanders have struggled to get care because their local GP isn’t taking new patients, or the next available appointment is weeks away.

“This funding boost is about turning things around,” Brown said.

Chambers said the funding would not change things instantly but brought New Zealand’s funding more in line with Australia.

That could help keep and attract doctors, he said.

“This is like an oil tanker – it will take a long time to turn around – so this is really just a start,” he said.

How the money will be used

• $59m increase for the number of patients enrolled with individual general practices
• $60m to encourage practices to provide more data for what the Government called performance-based funding
• $30m performance-based funding for the vaccination target
• $26m to help prevent fee increases for under-14s and keep fees capped for people on low incomes and community service cards.

- RNZ