Many factors contribute to a shortage of general practitioners
Factors leading to a shortage of general practitioners include:
- low numbers of graduates choosing general practice as their preferred speciality
- New Zealand's growing and ageing population, which means more people visiting general practitioners
- an ageing workforce, with 44% of general practitioners planning to retire in the next ten years
- some general practitioners moving overseas for better pay and working conditions
- a worldwide shortage of doctors, including general practitioners, which means that it can be hard for New Zealand to attract general practitioners from overseas to work here.
General practitioner appears on Immigration New Zealand's long-term skill shortage list. This means the Government is actively encouraging skilled general practitioners from overseas to work in New Zealand.
According to the Census, 5,616 general practitioners worked in New Zealand in 2018.
Nature of general practitioner job changing
The job of general practitioner is changing because of:
- more general practitioners working in private practices part time and pursuing a portfolio-style career (for example, a combination of general practice, special interest practice and referrals, clinical governance and teaching)
- new models of care that connect primary care, community services and hospitals
- an increasing need for community care, with more people living with long-term conditions and co-morbidities (more than one disease)
- new technologies, such as artificial intelligence and 3-D printing, being successfully used to solve medical problems
- virtual consultations and online medical forums being used more.
Extra payment for graduates working in hard-to-staff locations
The Ministry of Health runs a voluntary bonding scheme, with additional payments aimed at recruiting more graduate doctors to work in locations that are hard to staff, such as rural and remote areas, and specialist areas that are hard to staff, such as general practice.
Medical practices main employers of general practitioners
Most general practitioners are employed by a medical practice on a full or part-time basis, or as a locum (a general practitioner who fills in when others are away), or are self-employed in their own practice. They may also be employed by a district health board.
