GPNZ Panui 29 July 2021 - General ...
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GPNZ Panui 29 July 2021
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Message from the Chair
General practices have been struggling to maintain and grow their workforce for
many years. There have been periods where the workforce strain has been
less, when we have been encouraged by a boost in training numbers and
greater prospects for an expanded multi-disciplinary team. But right now, with
the unrelenting pressure on all parts of the system and reforms rightly designed
to shift more care out of hospitals, we need urgent and sustainable solutions to
create a fit for purpose general practice workforce.
Many practices – particularly in rural areas - have vacancies, getting a locum
can be challenging, and there are constantly other workforce opportunities to
compete with. It is not only recruitment process that is a challenge, retention is
too, and we regularly hear stories of GPs from overseas, attracted to work in
New Zealand who feel compelled to return to their homeland because of
residency issues or struggles to bring family here.
We’ve also known for a long time that significant numbers want to retire but are
unable to, and despite the appeal of general practice for many new medical
graduates, we simply do not have enough people to deal with the growing
demand.
These issues are not confined to GPs, of course. General practice is also
struggling to recruit and retain nurses, and the primary care nursing workforce is
ageing with significant numbers on the verge of retirement. There is so much
potential to grow and develop our nursing workforce, to offer diverse and attractive nursing careers and more care options for
our patients, but we are hampered by a training and funding model that inherently favours the hospital system. The impact of
this is most acutely felt by populations with greater and more complex needs, and Māori and rural communities.
Part of the solution lies in the model of care. We know that new graduates are attracted to practices where the Health Care
Home model is embedded; some practices have looked to extend their workforce by employing clinical pharmacists or Health
Improvement Practitioners or making greater use of health care assistants, making best use of a range of clinical skills and
offering a wider range of services to their populations. Initiatives such as these only solve part of the problem and depend on
local leadership and continued system support. This issue needs to be addressed in a long term, strategic way.
As the transition unit starts to build the foundations of the long-term New Zealand Health Plan the primary care workforce
needs to be central to that vision. General practice needs to be an attractive option to trainees of all professions, their
development needs to be supported and appropriately funded, with attractive primary care opportunities at every stage.
Crucially, the development of the primary care workforce needs to be underpinned by a deep understanding of the future
needs of the population and the most appropriate workforce mix to meet that need. Undergraduate and postgraduate training
needs to be commissioned to meet that need, with clinical skills education complemented by a focus on all the essential ‘soft’
skills - flexibility, resilience, communication, the ability to work in partnership and in teams.
It is our workforce that will deliver the change our system and our people and it isn’t going to happen by accident.
He waka eke noa.
Dr Jeff Lowe
Medsafe provisionally approves AstraZeneca vaccine
Medsafe has granted provisional approval of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for individuals 18 years of age and older.
This was announced today at the media stand up.
New Zealand secured 7.6 million doses (enough for 3.8 million people) of the AstraZeneca vaccine through an advance
purchase agreement last year. Provisional approval does not mean that we have committed to using the AstraZeneca COVID-
19 vaccine in New Zealand as part of our Immunisation Programme.
New Zealand has secured purchase agreements with four pharmaceutical companies to manage the risk that some vaccines
might not be approved for use. To have a third COVID-19 vaccine approved for use in New Zealand is welcome news!
You know you've worked in health too long....
Our CEO has returned from a trip overseas with a souvenir like no normal souvenir. The NHS Lateral Flow Test Kit. Kits
containing 7 tests are available free of charge in most pharmacies, medical facilities, schools and community venues in
England. The British population is actively encouraged to use them regularly but not rely on the results. People with positive
or unclear results, or any symptoms at all are asked to get a PCR test delivered by a clinician. These tests have become
commonplace in workplaces and schools.
The instructions take you a bit to get your head around and a little trick for new players... C means 'Control', not 'Covid'.
If you want a closer look at the kit for any reason, give Liz a buzz on 0212898832.
Medical reassessments for clients getting Supported Living Payment
From late July 2021, people getting Supported Living Payment (those with long term incapacity to work) will start coming to health practitioners for their
two-yearly medical reassessments. This process checks whether the impact of a client’s health condition or disability on their work capacity has changed
and NOT on whether they still have a disability (including health conditions). Note that some Supported Living Payment clients qualify for simplified access
and are never reassessed. We temporarily stopped these reasessments as part of our response to COVID-19. Now we’re starting this up again.
Medical certificates for Jobseeker Support clients with a health condition, injury or disability changing from 31 January 2022
Clients with a health condition or disability will continue to visit a health practitioner for an initial medical certificate to help assess their eligibility for
Jobseeker Support. Clients don’t need a subsequent medical certificate right now. This will change from late January 2022 when a new process will take
effect. From next January, the proposed process would mean people will still need to provide an initial medical certificate when they apply for support.
However, the review period between providing their initial certificate and the need for another one will be based on how long the person’s health
practitioner believes their ability to work will be affected by their health condition, injury, or disability.
The process is still being worked through and we’ll have more information over the coming months.
Please get in touch if you have any questions: Anne Hawker Anne.Hawker011@msd.govt.nz
Pharmac is now sharing the lists of all funding applications for medicines that have been assessed but not funded.
The ‘priority lists’ can be viewed online in our Application Tracker and are presented in alphabetical order.
The three lists help us organise and compare all the applications we receive. They include the options for
investment list, which is all the applications that would be approved for funding if we had the budget for them.
We know people are interested in what applications we are actively considering, and we want to be more
transparent. By making these lists easily available, we are being clearer about where applications are at in our
process.
See the lists in our Application Tracker
Read the full update on our website
Find out more about the priority lists
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