Andrew Little announces GP pay bump and push to increase doctor numbers

Health Minister Andrew Little announced the pay gap between GPs and hospital registrars would be closed to boost GP numbers. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The Government will close a pay gap between first-year General Practitioners and doctors who go into hospital as part of a push to increase by half the number of GPs trained in New Zealand each year.

In August, Health Minister Andrew Little said the Government wanted to increase the number of GPs trained each year from 200 to 300.

As part of that pledge, Little announced on Tuesday pay bumps for doctors who change as GPs. The salary increases will be between 13 per cent and 23 per cent, depending on which year of training the junior doctor is in.

The pay increase were announced alongside a report that showed the pay gap between GPs and registrars working in hospitals is the biggest barrier to young doctors going into general practice.

"That pay gap will be closed, to bring the pay of first-year GP registrars in line with that of hospital registrars," Little said.

"Funding is also being increased to enable the Royal College to pay teaching supervisors for an extra two-and-a-half hours a week, and GPs who host 12-week community training modules will be paid hosting fees of $3600," he said.

Little said "growing the number of GPs is vital so we can fill today's gaps and make sure we've got the doctors we need in the future, so finding different ways of providing training is essential".

The announcement was made while Little visited Bader Drive Doctors GP clinic in South Auckland to talk about convincing more young doctors to specialise in general practice.

The Government also said that more than 1000 healthcare workers have applied to work in New Zealand under new immigration settings that came into effect in July.

The Government has come under pressure to deliver a boost to the health workforce as the health system faced the strain of the Omicron Covid-19 variant and the flu over winter.

New Zealand has longstanding GP shortages, which are particularly acute in rural areas.

The Herald reported this week that patients of some rural health practices are waiting up to six weeks for routine appointments because of staff shortages, according to one GP.

Another GP told the Herald rural practices often feel "one resignation away from collapse" and the solution lies in training rural people for health careers.