fcassie@nzdoctor.co.nz

General practice-owning GPs are in a declining minority and reached a new low in 2022 as a proportion of the GP workforce

Two new Invercargill practices that opened within days of each other last August, in response to unmet need, now have nearly 4000 patients between them. Fiona Cassie reports

Canterbury PHO Pegasus has bought Melon Health’s wellness platform and parenting apps for an undisclosed sum

Overseas doctors are seen as one solution by both health minister Ayesha Verrall and National health spokesperson Shane Reti to the upcoming surge in GP retirements 

An aged-care leader says his resthome business is one of many in the red after paying nurses more to avoid losing them to public hospitals

Te Whatu Ora is to start paying capitation at equity-adjusted rates next month, but the new approach had not been signed off by top officials by press time

Health minister Ayesha Verrall left out practice nurses from a pay disparities funding list on Friday but says it’s still to be decided whether those nurses will be funded for a pay increase

The average GP is working nearly one day a week for free and is at a growing risk of burnout, the RNZCGP’s latest workforce survey shows 

General practice leaders still seek funding to match new hospital nurse pay rates for their nurses despite health minister Ayesha Verrall signalling the aim is to reduce, and not remove, pay gaps

No spending or details to date on new primary care initiatives, such as comprehensive primary care teams, is frustrating but not surprising, say policy analysts