Health body wants GP visits free in five years

By FRANCESCA MOLD health reporter

A national health report has recommended that the Government make visits to the doctor free within five years.

The National Health Committee yesterday issued a report calling for the Government to "preferentially invest" in primary healthcare until all GP care was fully funded.

Health experts previously told the Herald such a scheme would cost a minimum of $350 million, on top of at least $276 million already spent on primary health each year.

Yesterday's NHC report contained nothing new for the Government, which released a discussion document nine months ago that included many of the same ideas.

Health Minister Annette King yesterday welcomed the proposals, but warned that there might be trouble with such a time frame, because of both the pace of change and the country's ability to pay for it.

"I agree it would be ideal if the country could move to fully funded primary healthcare over the next five years, but it may not be practical to reallocate resources as quickly as that."

Mrs King said the Government believed primary healthcare offered the "best, most efficient and affordable way to reach individuals and communities who are currently disadvantaged or under-served in terms of health."

It was "cheaper and more efficient to keep people well in the first place," she said.

The Government subsidises about 35 per cent of GP care at the moment. Patients pay the rest in part-charges of up to $45.

The final version of the Government's primary healthcare strategy is expected to be released in mid-January.

"It is very like the National Health Committee report. The only real difference is how fast we can do these things."

The Government's report outlines a 10-year strategy to radically alter the primary healthcare sector, including asking doctors to sign up to groups that are bulk-funded using a population-based formula.

That strategy would take twice as long as the NHC plan, but Mrs King said the Government wanted GPs to take part in the proposed changes voluntarily.

She believed it would take up to a decade to change attitudes to the way primary healthcare was provided, and to get doctors and other health workers to accept capped funding and work together in large groups.

The NHC report also claimed that the Government could fully finance GP visits without having to find new money.

It suggested using a special pool of money, known as the sustainable funding pathway, set aside each year to top up funding to cover demographic changes, inflation and new technology.

"I don't think that is possible. That money is used to sustain what we are doing now," said Mrs King.

She believed the NHC report, which also said health promotion, early intervention and disease prevention should be the sector's focus, demonstrated an end to philosophical rows about the direction of health services in New Zealand.

"It shows we ... are heading in the same direction."

- NZPA