GP Wants Physicians’ Assistants to Fill Growing Gaps

By AKOORIE, Natalie; PRESS, The

A new category of medics could be one way to combat a looming shortage of general practitioners, says one Hamilton GP.

St Andrews Medical Centre doctor Leo Revell said physicians’ assistants were becoming increasingly common in the US. But such a move would mean thinking more laterally about how to provide GP care, Dr Revell said.

“It’s true, there are a whole group of GPs that are set to retire in the next 10 years. When I started in medicine there was a great shortage in general practitioners – that was about 35 years ago. So they trained up lots and we’re the bunch that are all going to retire,” Mr Revell said.

“These physicians’ assistants would be a great thing because they work in conjunction with doctors and under supervision of doctors. They have a proper course – about four years in the US – and they learn on the job.”

Dr Revell said the idea was not recognised in New Zealand but it was about time it was.

He said he had been researching the idea since meeting a PA at a recent conference, and would travel to Colorado in July to investigate further.

Dr Revell would then present his findings to Waikato Primary Health on his return.

“They would solve a lot of our problems. Working in association with a GP, (a PA) can improve the quality of the care for patients and these physicians’ assistants can help deal with the less serious cases. Most of the time they won’t need to check with GPs.”

However, Dr Revell said the problem lay in convincing the New Zealand Medical Council of the scheme’s merit.

“What we need is more teamwork. More prevention and forethought. Things like flu injections, keeping people’s blood pressure organised and preventing heart disease, will become more important.”

The Independent Practitioners Association Council (IPAC) this week warned patients to expect greater delays to appointments due to the GP shortages.

While Dr Revell said he could still offer patients a same-day service, some Waikato GPs have waiting lists as long as a month for new patients.

Waikato Primary Health operations manager Erica Amon said suggestions of lengthy waiting times were “alarmist” but conceded there were rural pockets where pressure on GPs was evident.

Together with Pinnacle Group, the PHO had identified the potential crisis late last year and had begun working on solutions.

These would be based around retaining and recruitment of general practitioners and nurses.

As well they would be helping other health providers enhance the services provided by GPs.

IPAC chairwoman Bev O’Keefe said 2000 of New Zealand’s 3500 GPs would retire within the next 10 to 12 years and there were fears there won’t be enough young graduates to replace the aging doctors.

(c) 2008 Waikato Times. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.