GPs warn of primary care collapse in New Zealand, call for urgent Government action

• General Practitioners Aotearoa warns the family doctor concept is dead and call for urgent Government action.
• Patients face long waits, with some queuing from 6am due to long wait times and limited appointments.
• Dr Buzz Burrell criticises Government’s 4% funding increase as inadequate for primary care needs.

A group representing GPs has issued a bleak assessment of the state of primary healthcare in New Zealand, saying “the concept of a family doctor is dead”, and the Government must act before there’s wider health sector collapse.

The comments from the advocacy group General Practitioners Aotearoa (GPA) were made following revelations in the Herald that patients were queuing from 6am outside a GP and urgent care clinic in Ōtara.

Patients waited at the clinic hours before it opened, telling the Herald they turned up early in the cold because of long wait times and difficulty getting appointments with other GPs, whose books were full.

The GPA’s interim chairman Dr Buzz Burrell said the Herald’s video story was shocking and should serve as a wake-up call for all of New Zealand and the Government.

“It [the Herald’s video] was probably the most frightening demonstration of inequity that you could possibly ask for in primary care in New Zealand.”

People wait in line early in the morning to be seen at a general practice in Ōtara. Photo / Ben Dickens

Burrell likened the scenes captured in the video to a “Third World” health system.

“We expect to see pictures like that in Third World countries like Bangladesh and Myanmar, but not in New Zealand. I think probably what’s also heartbreaking is you probably wouldn’t see that in Remuera,” he said.

Patients, including the most vulnerable, were facing unacceptable waits across New Zealand, which was dangerous, he said.

“The primary healthcare system is sick. The concept of a family doctor is already dead. Patients all over the country have to wait weeks to see a doctor at their usual clinic, and even then, they’re unlikely to see their regular doctor.”

True family medicine involved continuity of care, where a patient could see the same GP over and over when they needed to, Burrell said.

“I think it’s so close to dead that we might as well call it out for what it is. There are pockets of hope, but they’re getting less and less and less. It’s a frightening statement and it’s really sad.”

General Practitioners Aotearoa interim chairman Dr Buzz Burrell says patients, including the most vulnerable, are facing unacceptable waits across New Zealand. Photo / Corey Fleming

Burrell, who’s been a GP and rural hospital specialist for 30 years, didn’t believe the Government was prioritising general practice because it was “too unsexy” for politicians, who preferred to campaign on hospital-level care.

“Eventually, we are going to have a tipping point where we will have so few GPs that people are going to be overwhelming the emergency departments.”

He said if just 6% of patients went to emergency departments (EDs) instead of their local doctor, this would double ED presentations.

“That’s a really alarming statistic. It shows how close we are to a secondary sector collapse.”

He said GPs were “run ragged”, short staffed and overloaded with paperwork, which was ultimately putting patient safety at risk.

“We are inevitably going see missed diagnoses. Early cancers being found late, people dying of cardiovascular disease, dying of other preventable illnesses because we’re not catching them.”

Health Minister Shane Reti says telehealth is one way to reduce the burden of primary care providers. Photo / Ben Dickens

Health Minister Dr Shane Reti told the Herald technology has a role to play in easing the administrative burden.

“Reducing this burden will involve solutions such as telehealth and inbox management,” Reti said.

Health New Zealand has proposed a 4% increase in funding for GP clinics and a provision to allow practices to increase their fees.

The offer has been widely panned by doctors, including the General Practice Leaders Forum chairwoman Dr Samantha Murton, who described the offer as “unacceptable”.

Burrell agreed the offer was disappointing.

“A 4% increase in the funding is not even a drop in the ocean. It should have been 140%,” he said.

Asked whether he felt the Government was prioritising general practice, Burrell said “absolutely not” and he was disappointed with the minister.

“I think we were all looking forward to a GP [the minister] coming in all guns blazing, and in the first 100 days promising and then delivering on hugely improving general practice.”

A spokeswoman for Reti said the GP workforce is critical to New Zealand.

“The minister absolutely recognises and values the passion of doctors such as Buzz Burrell,” she said.

“It [general practice] is certainly a challenging space, but the minister is committed to making a difference.”

Michael Morrah is a senior investigative reporter/team leader at the Herald. He won the best coverage of a major news event at the 2024 Voyager NZ Media Awards and has twice been named reporter of the year. He has been a broadcast journalist for 20 years and joined the Herald’s video team in July 2024.