11. Question No. 11—HealthBROOKE van VELDEN (Deputy Leader—ACT) to the Minister of HealthQuestion No. 11—Health11. BROOKE van VELDEN (Deputy Leader—ACT) to the Minister of Health: Is she confident that New Zealanders are able to see their GP when they need to or enrol with a GP at all?Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL (Minister of Health): I am advised that in New Zealand as of 1 May 2023 4882883 individuals—or approximately 94 percent of the population—are enrolled in general practices. There are also a number of initiatives under way to address the pressures on GPs and improve access to primary care improving providing alternative avenues to good care providing staff and funding for general practices and increasing the number of general practitioners practising in New Zealand. We know there are challenges in the primary care sector and there is always more work to do and we're getting on with the job.Brooke van Velden: What are the consequences of New Zealand having only one GP for every 820 people compared to Australia having one GP for every 575 people?Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL: It is important that we improve access to primary care and one of the goals of the health reforms is to re-orientate ourselves in that direction. There is a number of initiatives under way to that end after the pandemic. That includes making sure that we have our immigration settings right to get general practitioners including working with the Medical Council to see regulation for overseas-trained doctors to train directly in primary care raising the number of general practice training positions and making sure that those general practice registrars are appropriately remunerated for their training.Brooke van Velden: What does she say to people who find it unacceptable that GP capitation levels increased by only 3 percent last year when inflation increased by 7 percent?Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL: Well I say to those people that if you want to see the track record of Government funding for primary care then that party over there supported a Government that raised primary care funding by 1.2 percent. This Government is offering a 5 percent increase to primary care this year—the highest ever. I know general practitioners are far too smart to buy the empty promises of the ACT Party.Brooke van Velden: Will her Government commit to adopting ACT's policy of increasing GP capitation levels by 13 percent—enough to subsidise an additional 2.5 million extra GP visits—to ensure accessible healthcare for everyday Kiwis and if not why not?Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL: I believe we've covered the major creditability gap with a party that has only supported a Government that led to a 1.2 percent annual increase in funding for primary care compared to the increases we are and have overseen.Brooke van Velden: Has the Minister raised with the Minister of Finance an increase to GP capitation and if not why not?Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL: I have a number of discussions with the Minister of Finance of this Government's vision for an inclusive accessible and successful primary-care sector. SPEAKER: Question No. 12 the Hon—Brooke van Velden: Point of order Mr Speaker. It was a very specific question—has she discussed with the Minister of Finance an increase to GP capitation levels—and she did not address that question.SPEAKER: Oh yes she did.