A leading GP is quitting an overnight care scheme after staff being abused was the final straw for the stretched service.
Experienced rural GP Dr Tim Malloy was one of the architects of an after-hours programme where rural clinics provide on-call care. But on Wednesday he told patients at his Coast to Coast Health Care in Wellsford they would no longer offer the overnight service after a woman GP was physically intimidated during a late night visit. Dr Malloy says it is the final straw for a service he had already found was unsustainable due to an ageing workforce and chronic underfunding across the sector.
Dr Paula Mathieson, owns Rata Family Health in Whangārei and has debts of more than six figures and says an overhaul of GP funding is needed. Her clinic, which was formerly owned by now Health Minister Dr Shane Reti, struggles with a high number of complex patients, who typically have higher costs.
Government "capitation" funding - what GPs are paid for per patient - is failing to cover clinic's costs leading some GPs to increase fees or charge for previously free services. Dr Malloy and Dr Mathieson talk to Kathryn about the multitude of issues general practice is facing.
Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners president Tim Malloy. Photo: RNZ / Adriana Weber
