Dr Moira Chamberlain has signed the online petition and is calling on the Government to increasing funding for GPs in Northland. Photo / John Stone
Dr Moira Chamberlain has signed the online petition and is calling on the Government to increasing funding for GPs in Northland. Photo / John Stone
Being fed up with long waiting times to see her GP prompted Whangārei mother Miriam Burgess-Payne to start an online petition in a bid to force urgent action on an issue affecting all Northlanders.
Among the more than 400 people who have signed her petition on Change.org is Whangārei GP Dr Moira Chamberlain, who said primary healthcare in Northland was at a crisis point due to "woefully inadequate" government funding.
Burgess-Payne, a teacher at Onerahi Primary School, said she could get a same-day GP appointment six years ago but the average waiting time now was between two weeks and a month.
She has sent the link to her petition to Whangārei mayor Sheryl Mai, local MP Dr Shane Reti, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Health Minister Dr David Clark, Tai Tokerau MP Kelvin Davis and the Northland District Health Board.
"I've tried to make an appointment for my kids and have been told the waiting time is two weeks and I've also been talking to other parents and doing my own research and thought some public pressure will help," Burgess-Payne said.
"It's an issue affecting the whole of Northland and the more people that back the petition, the more attention it will gain, the more momentum it will gather and it's more likely to bring change."
She said Northland's population was growing rapidly but our healthcare system was struggling to cope.
"The shortage is unfair. It's unfair on the sick, it's unfair on the doctors who are under huge strain in dealing with a very large patient load. And it's dangerous. We run the risk of people becoming very ill while they wait to be seen, and of overworked doctors making mistakes."
She plans to bring her elderly parents to Whangārei from Rotorua and doesn't want them to go through the same ordeal as many Northlanders who cannot get timely GP appointments.
Burgess-Payne said immediate action was required on adequate healthcare, which was a basic human right that the region's residents were missing out on.
"Northland needs doctors, NOW!"
Whangārei schoolteacher Miriam Burgess-Payne's petition to get more GPs to Northland aims to attract 1000 signatures. Photo / Imran Ali
Dr Chamberlain said as well as underfunding, an increase in population, GPs reaching retirement age, and the current workload of doctors all contributed to the crisis.
"I think Northland's general health is in a crisis. Public hospitals are under pressure and they are pushing patients to us while the bottleneck of workload for us means our stress levels are going up.
"The perception the public has is not realising that GPs are private businesses that needs to make money to run and we are dictated to by the Government how and how much we can charge," she said.
Dr Chamberlain said the Government's funding model for GPs has not changed despite the fact regions such as Northland were ill-equipped to cope with an annual population increase of between 5000 and 6000 people.
But Health Minister David Clark said last year's Wellbeing Budget included a $227 million boost for primary healthcare over four years— $67m from the ministry's funding and a further $160m from DHBs' allocation.
"The sustainability of our rural health workforce, including that in Northland, is very important, which is why we also invested an additional $18m over four years to provide more GP training placements in rural and regional areas, plus locum relief for midwives working in rural settings."
Mahitahi Hauora chief executive Phillip Balmer said 75 per cent of GP clinics in Northland were classed as having Very Low Cost Access (VLCA) serving a low socio-economic area with a high number of Māori and elderly patients.
He said there were restrictions on how much VLCAs could charge, which made it difficult to run GP clinics financially and to attract good doctors.
"The way primary care is being funded is currently being reviewed and while it is being, the Government has made some adjustments like bringing in the Community Services Card," he said.
Mahitahi Hauora held a series of GP and medical workforce development hui in Whangārei, Kerikeri and Kaitaia in August and September last year with a view to increasing the number of doctors in Northland.
As a result of such initiatives, Balmer said three GPs has since been recruited in Dargaville, two in Bream Bay and a similar number in Raumanga.
He said GP clinics in Kaitaia, which closed their books last year, have started accepting new patients.
Projections of demand based on demographic changes show that Northland's population - already the fastest-growing in the country - is forecast to increase by 6.4 per cent by 2028.
It means GP consultations in Northland will increase by 11 per cent over the next nine years.
The expected number of GP consultations across Northland this year will be 508,383— up from 502,350 last year— increasing to 514,232 next season, according to Mahitahi Hauora.
