110 | COMMUNITY Tui Medical: GenPro Kelly Deeks GP’s “exhausted, feeling left out...” Tui Medical managing director Dr Navin Rajan says GPS are feeling increasingly exhausted and unappreciated. In his 25 years of working as a GP in New Zealand, Tui Medical managing director Dr. Navin Rajan has never seen general practitioners so disheartened, with increasing workloads and inappropriately directed health sector funding putting New Zealand’s primary health care industry and the health and wellbeing of local communities under threat. “We’re dealing with an aging population with increasingly complex health needs, which are not easily managed in the traditional GP appointment timeframes of 15 minutes,” he says. “We are rapidly approaching a time where 25% or more of our population is aged over 65, and our patients are asking for management of increasingly complex health issues. GPs are feeling exhausted, they feel left out of the conversation, and they are increasingly disheartened about the platitudes that are spoken on by the Government and the lack of effective action at the coalface.” Navin says the capitation rates which partly fund New Zealand general practices are neither increasing in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or with actual health sector inflation. “And inflation in our industry is rising faster than the CPI. The CPI is rising at 7% but the real-time cost is more like 14%. Our capitation funding has been left behind.” General practices are taking their biggest inflationary hit with their biggest expense, wages. Navin says the Government has increased nurses wages quite substantially in the hospital sector and while this is a welcome gesture, it has served to create a wage gap between hospital and primary healthcare nurses, making it more challenging for the primary healthcare sector to attract and retain nursing staff. The inequities of this funding model affect small practices and small places disproportionately. Navin says while a practice in a wealthy location can raise its consultation fees and retain more staff , practices in small or low socioeconomic areas don’t have that option. “A practice that charges $19.50 for a consultation is going to struggle to pay its staff.” Navin is speaking from first-hand experience, with his Tui Medical group of seven general practices and two urgent care clinics across the Waikato region charging $19.50 per consultation. “It’s the sheer volume of 45,000 enrolled patients that offsets it for us.” The inaccessibility of urgent care is a subject close to Navin’s heart, as he also has firsthand experience of patients having to pay up to six times as much as a standard appointment to access urgent care. “Urgent care appointments can go up to $150. That’s what it costs to keep these services running. We are given a subsidy for general practice care, but we don’t see any subsidy for urgent care. “These are all things the Government is very well aware of, and I’m sure there are reasons why they haven’t done anything. But the cost of delivering urgent care services in the community is not very high in comparison to the amount of damage being caused by the current model. Patients are being directed towards the emergency department at the hospital where a it costs an average of $400 to see a patient. The funding is not being set out or spent properly. It is directing patients to very expensive hospital departments when they could be dealt with for a fraction of the cost in urgent care.” Navin believes the Government is already hearing about patients who can’t even get access to their own GP for two to three weeks because there aren’t enough GPs, and the ones that are present are feeling exhausted and unappreciated. “Every doctor joined the profession to help people. Whether in general practice or any other branch of medicine, their fundamental reason to join is to help other people, and part of that equation is wanting to feel appreciated. So when doctors feel as though they are not appreciated, they feel less and less inclined to go the extra mile, and that’s what has happened.” Navin says as an industry, general practice has been working for years on developing pathways for medical graduates to work in primary healthcare. SAV Design are proud to support TUI Medical Access Control • Alarms & CCTV Audio Video Solutions • Data & Networking 0800 SAV DESIGN (0800 728 337) info@savdesign.co.nz Proud to be working with Tui Medical Plumbing | Gasfitting | Drainage Laser Plumbing - Hamilton East 412 Grey St Hamilton East www.laserplumbing.co.nz M: 027 247 3836 F: 07 858 4902 E: hamilton.east@laserplumbing.co.nz 2017-2022 Health Insurance I su ce More NZ businesses arewith us because they knowwe’ve got their backs
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