Simeon Brown: Health Minister on the Government's new healthcare package

The Government is setting up 24-7 digital healthcare in a package announced today to make it easier to see a doctor.

Providers including GPs getting incentives for supporting graduate nurses - capped at 400 annually for three years.

Health New Zealand is also putting up $285 million to incentivise GP clinics to open their books to new patients, and hit Government targets.

Health Minister Simeon Brown says they're also introducing a two-year programme to train up to 100 overseas doctors as GPs.

"Many of these people are doing jobs which are not related to their qualifications - you hear stories where some of them are driving Ubers. Actually, we want them in GP practices." 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Government's making moves in the primary care sector. This afternoon.
They've announced an additional two hundred and eighty five million
dollars in performance based funding for gps. More on that
in a second. They'll be funding for one hundred training
placements for overseas trained doctors to try and get them
into GP practices here and on top of all of that,
GP practices will be paid an incentive to attract four

(00:20):
hundred graduate registered nurses a year. Simon Brown's the Health minister,
Minister good evening, good evening the children and eighty five
million dollars the performance based pay. What's the criteria?

Speaker 2 (00:31):
That's about making sure that our GP practices are offering
timling or the books open. So it's about being able
to register new patients, setting patients within a timely manner,
and also being able to support the government's targets around
immunization and planned care as well. So those are the

(00:52):
things that will be incentivizing gps to support their patients with.
And this is about increasing the amount of funding they
get to hire more staff and be able to support
their practices to be able to do that for their patients.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
But how do you get your practice moving faster until
you can hire more staff.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
Well, ultimately, this is about incentivizing what we want for
New Zealanders, which is saying we want to have patients
being able to be able to be registered with a GP.
We want people to be able to be seen. I mean,
we hear the stories we're waiting two to three weeks
or more for an appointment. So it's ultimately, and that's
why we've also announced today the additional investment and workforce
around doctors and nurses. So today's is both doctors and nurses.

(01:33):
I guess they'll be listening to this manner.

Speaker 1 (01:36):
They'll be listening to this minister and they'll be going,
hang on a minute, I'm working my butt off here.
I've got all the staff that I can afford to
have and we're all working around the clock, and you know,
how are you expecting them to do this well effectively?

Speaker 2 (01:50):
They will be paid more money, That's what will be
going through. This is increased capitation fundings, more money no
GP clinics to be able to support the government's target.
It's around access to GP clinics. That's what this is
all about. Health New Zealand will work through some of
the finer details with GPS, so they'll be involved in
that process and finding become available from the first of

(02:11):
July this year.

Speaker 1 (02:12):
With the overseas trained doctors, I found it incredible that
you have to do two years? Is that for every doctor?
So if someone gets trained in Britain, do they have
to come here.

Speaker 2 (02:22):
And do doctors which are trained in a different, different jurisdiction.
They come to New Zealand and they are you know,
many of these people are doing jobs which are not
related to their qualifications. Yes, stories some of them are
driving driving ubers. Actually we want them in GP practices
and what they do is they find it very hard
to get the training placement to be able to get

(02:43):
there to get their qualification recognized in New Zealand. And
so this is making sure that not only can they
do the exam, but they can actually then do that
that training and that supervision in a GP practice rather
than a hospital, so they're able to actually boost that
GP workforce so that New Zealanders are able to get
more access to time and quality access to healthcare.

Speaker 1 (03:04):
Okay, and that's for countries you're not talking about the
US and the UK and Germany.

Speaker 2 (03:11):
There's a variety of rules and there is work that
we need to do to look at those rules as well,
and that's where the medical councils set a whole range
of different criteria and there's work sense to you, Like, no,
a lot of it does not make sense to me.
I'm focused on the patient, not on regulations and rules,
and so there is there is advice coming to me
around how we can look at at some of those

(03:32):
issues as well, because we actually want to make it
easier for people to come to New Zealand to practice
medicine totally and to be able to support patients. So
I'm really focused on that. There's more work to do.
This is about looking these are the current rules as
they stand right now, and it's about saying, actually we
want these doctors in GB clinics quickly supporting patients, all.

Speaker 1 (03:49):
Right, So I mean Brown, appreciate your time, the Health Minister.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
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Speaker 1 (03:55):
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