Turner Judy: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Turner Judy: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:617;Page:12766] 
10.  
JUDY TURNER (United Future) 
 to the  
Minister of Health 
: Is she confident that the number of general practitioners in New Zealand will continue to be sufficient to achieve the Government’s six key directions under the primary health care strategy; if so why? 
Hon RUTH DYSON (Acting Minister of Health) 
: 
 Yes I am confident that there will be sufficient general practitioners to achieve the Government’s primary health care strategy’s key directions because we have increased the annual number of medical trainees by 40 with an emphasis on the areas of general practice rural general practice and mental health. Further the College of General Practitioners programme has been oversubscribed with 90 applicants for the 55 places available. I would also note that New Zealand now has 323 more general practitioners than in 1992. 
Judy Turner 
: Is the Minister aware of the New Zealand Medical Association’s finding that the number of general practitioners has decreased by 6.5 percent in the last 5 years and is already at crisis level in many areas and if so can she give the New Zealand public a guarantee that this drop in general practitioner numbers will not leave them waiting days to get an appointment; if not why not? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: Yes I am aware of the report and I can advise the House that over the 10 years prior to the report’s dating the number of general practitioners actually increased in New Zealand. In 1992 there were 2594 active general practitioners and in 2002 the numbers of active general practitioners had increased to 2917—an increase of 323. I can assure the member of our commitment to ensuring that the training places available for doctors and the support through the Clinical Training Agency of the College of General Practitioners’ programme is carried on. 
Steve Chadwick 
: Are the key directions of the Government’s primary health care strategy dependent only on the provision of services by general practitioners? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: No they are not. A key component of the implementation of the strategy lessens the reliance of primary health care on general practitioners. We are now seeing nurses and nurse practitioners taking a greater role in primary care throughout New Zealand and the Government has supported those initiatives by providing for scholarships targeted at nurse practitioners and rural nurse practitioners. 
Dr Lynda Scott 
: What part do the following play in the trend of reducing general practitioner numbers and an increasing reliance on an overseas-trained workforce: negative work conditions as outlined by the New Zealand Medical Association report or a Government whose ideological primary health organisations are driving doctors to leave due to the biggest change in New Zealand’s primary care delivery since 1938? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: It is unfortunate that the member continues to portray life in New Zealand for health professionals as being something that is not attractive. In fact although the report gave the 2001 ratio of active general practitioners per 100000 of population it did not compare this ratio with previous years. According to workforce data published in  
New 
Zealand Medical Practitioners 2000 
 the number of active general practitioners for every 100000 people rose significantly—from 58.2 per 100000 people in 1980 to 82.6 per 100000 in 2000. New Zealand is doing well when compared with other OECD countries. 
Heather Roy 
: Is the Minister aware that the number of general practitioners dropped from 3159 in 1998 to 2917 in 2002 at the same time as the population has continued to rise; and are her new primary health organisations not just a backdoor route to making general practitioners State employees? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: No I totally reject that member’s assertion. As I explained to the House in answer to an earlier supplementary question over the 10 years prior to the report being completed the number of general practitioners in New Zealand increased from 2594 in 1992 to 2 917 in 2002 an increase of 323. 
Judy Turner 
: Is the Minister aware that only 27 percent of general practitioners surveyed by the New Zealand Medical Association last year intended to be practising full time in 4 years’ time and that fewer and fewer graduates see general practitioner work as an attractive option and will she seriously address the association’s warning that heavy workloads stress medico-legal concerns falling remuneration and compliance costs are contributing to the loss of general practitioners; if not why? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: The Government is committed to ensuring that the support that has previously been lacking in both training and ongoing support for general practitioners is addressed. This is obvious from the increase in trainee numbers and the support of the Clinical Training Agency’s ongoing programme for postgraduates. There were some alerts raised in the report that the Government will give serious consideration to and they are also reflected in the work of the Health Workforce Advisory Committee. 
Judy Turner 
: Is the Minister aware that only 14 percent of Auckland’s medical graduates—surveyed recently—had considered becoming a general practitioner yet 20 percent more graduates are leaving to go overseas and does she concede that a failure by her Government to introduce a bonding scheme that deals to student loans is a major factor behind this exodus; if not why? 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: I am pleased to advise the House that research is currently being undertaken by the Ministry of Education and Statistics New Zealand to assess the impact of student loans. The conclusion of this study is expected in the next month. The New Zealand Institute of Economic Research examined the net migration of health practitioners in 2002. The institute’s data showed that the outflow of medical practitioners was matched by an inflow of overseas-qualified medical practitioners. 
Dr Lynda Scott 
: I seek leave to table an analysis of New Zealand’s general practitioner workforce showing that in 1998 there were 2931 active general practitioners and 2538 in 2002. 
Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.