GPs defend fees track record

MEDIA RELEASE TO:
All Health Reporters/Chief Executives/Press Officers

FROM: Dr Mark Peterson, NZMA GP Council Chair

DATE: 27 September, 2007

SUBJECT: GPs defend fees track record

General Practitioners have a good track record of keeping their fees at reasonable levels, says the New Zealand Medical Association.

“Given our track record, we are extremely surprised that the Government is suggesting that GP fees would rise unreasonably under a National Government,” said NZMA GP Council Chair Dr Mark Peterson.

He was responding to the launch of the National Party’s Health Discussion paper yesterday, which has triggered debate about GP fees.

Dr Peterson said Consumers’ Institute surveys had shown that where the Government had committed extra funding, GP fees had reduced significantly over the past few years. A Ministry of Health spokesperson was quoted in 2005 as saying: “We are delighted to see GPs complying with Government policy to keep fees down” - and this covered a period before the current restrictive Fees Review process was introduced.

“The evidence suggests, as Consumers’ Institute and the Ministry of Health have confirmed, that GPs have a good record at passing on subsidies to patients,” Dr Peterson said.

He said it was misleading to refer to all fees at present being “capped”.

“Practices which have accepted higher levels of subsidy do have their fees capped under the “Very Low Cost” scheme.

“Other practices face the Fees Review process if they raise fees over a threshold level. This is an incredibly bureaucratic and money-wasting system, and the vast majority of practices which have been reviewed have had their fee increases upheld. This money would be far better spent on patient care. It’s time to end this farcical system and restore the system of trust which has worked in the past.”

“GPs, in the main, run their own businesses,” Dr Peterson said. ”Unlike DHBs, they cannot get into deficit and then expect the government to bail them out. As well as the usual business expenses, such as rent and wages, they are facing higher costs, including the 20 percent increase in practice nurse wages and an extra week’s holiday for staff. Unlike hospital doctors, GPs must fund their own costs such as their annual leave, sick leave and their continuing medical education."

“It’s essential that GP businesses remain viable. It is the responsibility of the Government to ensure access and affordability for patients by providing adequate subsidies, and we are pleased that this Government has made this a priority over the past five years.”

ENDS

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