Shortage Feared As Ageing GPs Quit

Retirements among Nelson’s ageing doctors are looming “like a tsunami”, prompting a warning that patients will face delays in getting appointments with already pressured general practitioners.

Increasing numbers of general practice surgeries around New Zealand are struggling to meet demand created by a growing population and falling numbers of GPs and practice nurses, the Independent Practitioners Association Council warned today.

Nelson GPs’ spokesman, Graham Loveridge, said there were concerns about the number of GPs nearing retirement age and the need to attract more younger doctors here.

However patients in the Nelson region were not currently facing the delays evident in other parts of the country.

“A lot of Nelson GPs in the city, in Motueka and rural areas are now in their 50s and 60s, and there is concern as that group over the next five to 10 years moves into retirement.

“We are going to need a larger group of young GPs, but there is some light on the horizon,” Dr Loveridge said.

IPAC chairwoman Bev O’Keefe said the growing pressure on general practice surgeries had significant implications for the wider health system.

“Well-resourced general practice keeps patients out of hospitals.

“But waiting lists and bottlenecks at community practice level mean patients spilling over into already stretched hospital emergency departments,” she said.

IPAC represents more than 800 community-based medical practices throughout the country.

Tauranga was the latest region where workload pressure had forced local practices to close their books to new patients and patients were facing similar problems in the Hutt Valley, Kapiti Coast, Manawatu and parts of Christchurch, she said.

While the Nelson Mail understands some GPs in the region are not taking on new patients, the Nelson Marlborough District Health Board website lists 24 doctors who are currently taking enrolments from new patients.

Dr O’Keefe told the Nelson Mail the retirement of GPs was looming like a tsunami and was a big issue both in Nelson and around the country, with the average age of GPs and practice nurses about 50.

Nelson’s older population would also contribute to the pressure on practices because older people tended to have more health problems, she said.

Dr Loveridge said there was increased interest among young doctors wanting to join the GPs training scheme, and more trainees were beginning to filter through to Nelson.

Several young male doctors had also bought into some Motueka practices in recent years.

However, the problem of keeping graduates in New Zealand still existed, and Nelson’s usual lifestyle attractions were often no longer enough.

“Young medical graduates come out with $100,000 debts, and the economic argument will always win over sunshine hours.

He said waiting times in Nelson were not as critical as in other areas.

Anyone in Nelson with an urgent condition, or children who were unwell were seen by a doctor on the day.

Others wanting routine appointments would wait two days on average, which had been the case for some time, Dr Loveridge said.

Practices contacted by the Nelson Mail this morning did not report delays for appointments.

Wakefield Health Centre practice manager Jo Francois said while more people were wanting to see a doctor because of growing population, the practice was able to recruit doctors to meet demand.

Murchison Hospital and Health Centre charge nurse manager Barbara Smith said the centre’s two doctors, which were all it needed, had expressed no immediate desire to leave but the centre faced the same nationwide problem of an ageing workforce, for doctors and nurses.

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