GPs welcome funding boost
General Practice networks say any money for the severely underfunded sector is welcome, but it doesn't fix the decades of underinvestment. Royal College of GP's president Samantha Murton spoke to Charlotte Cook.
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RNZ News
a day ago
- RNZ News
Doctors welcome health minister's GP training funding shake-up
Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners president Dr Samantha Murton. Photo: Supplied Doctors are welcoming the government's move to fully fund specialist GP training. Previously, medical graduates only had their first year of specialist general practitioner training paid for, but now all three years would be covered. The government would also cover the exam costs for about 200 trainees, and full education costs for about 400 year 2 and 3 trainees each year. President of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners - which delivers the 'General Practice Education Programme' - Dr Samantha Murton, said the changes brought GP training in line with all other medical training across New Zealand and Australia. "This funding will be a gamechanger for current and future trainees. This is a significant acknowledgement for the specialism of the general practice workforce and the vital role we play in healthcare being as important as those of our peers in secondary hospital settings. "Not only will this funding offer the necessary financial support our GP registrars need throughout their training, but we are optimistic that the news will encourage medical graduates who have an interest in general practice but have been put off by the financial barriers to make the step to train as a specialist GP. To them, I say welcome and you won't regret your decision." Chief executive Toby Beaglehole said the college was enthusiastic that primary care funding was heading in the right direction. "We are focused on building a sustainable workforce for the future , which starts with training and the equitability of our program costs to other specialist medical training. "This funding sends a signal to the sector that the expertise of general practice is valued as a vital part of the health system." Announcing the changes at a GP conference on Friday, Health Minister Simeon Brown said they would help improve New Zealanders' access to primary healthcare . Health Minister Simeon Brown. Photo: Calvin Samuel / RNZ He also announced the government's funding method for GP clinics, known as capitation, would be updated for the first time in more than 20 years, with changes taking effect from 1 July, 2026. "The current model is outdated and doesn't reflect the needs of patients. The revised formula will go beyond just age and sex, to also include multimorbidity, rurality , and socioeconomic deprivation," Brown said. "These changes will better distribute funding to where it's needed most, so that GP clinics with a higher needs population of enrolled patients will receive more funding to care for them." A new national health target would be developed with the primary care sector, proposing to ensure that more than 80 percent of people could see a primary care provider within one week. "People shouldn't have to wait weeks to see a doctor. Delays can lead to poorer health outcomes, more pressure on hospitals, and growing frustration for patients. We're focused on delivering timely, quality care that puts patients first." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Scoop
2 days ago
- Scoop
General Practice Training Programme To Be Fully Funded Is A Win For The Future Of The General Practice Workforce
The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners welcomes the Minister of Health's announcement today at GP25: Conference for General Practice of significant additional funding for registrars across the General Practice Education Programme (GPEP). This announcement will go a long way to strengthen the training and grow the next generation of the specialist GP workforce, and includes: In 2025, training fees for doctors in their second, third, and post-third year of GPEP to encourage completion of their training. Fellowship assessment costs for around 200 GPEP trainees to enable them to complete their training and become Fellows. From 2026, full ongoing training and education costs for an estimated 400 GPEP year 2 and 3 trainees each year. Currently, GP registrars only have their first year of GPEP funded with the second and third years having to be self-funded. This funding approach is different to all the other medical training programmes (in New Zealand and Australasian medical colleges) that are fully funded for their entirety. College President Dr Samantha Murton says, "This funding will be a gamechanger for current and future trainees. This is a significant acknowledgement for the specialism of the general practice workforce and the vital role we play in healthcare being as important as those of our peers in secondary hospital settings. "Not only will this funding offer the necessary financial support our GP registrars need throughout their training, but we are optimistic that the news will encourage medical graduates who have an interest in general practice but have been put off by the financial barriers to make the step to train as a specialist GP. To them, I say welcome and you won't regret your decision. The College has been a strong and vocal advocate for the current and future general practice workforce and is enthusiastic that the funding for primary care is heading in the right direction to ensure that it is sustainable. College Chief Executive Toby Beaglehole says, "We are focused on building a sustainable workforce for the future, which starts with training and the equitability of our program costs to other specialist medical training. "This funding sends a signal to the sector that the expertise of general practice is valued as a vital part of the health system. We are very grateful to the Minister for his recognition of the importance of primary care training to deliver healthier patients. "This funding will also help reduce costs to the rural GP workforce who support communities that need more specialist GPs as soon as possible." The Government has also announced that capitation funding reweighting will be introduced from 1 July 2026. The College acknowledges that reweighting capitation funding will focus on the distribution of funding across general practice, so that practices with a higher needs population of enrolled patients will receive more funding to care for them. Dr Murton says "We also welcome the changes to the capitation funding formula to include multimorbidity, rurality, and deprivation as factors. It is key, as the Minister has mentioned in his speech today, that these factors are regularly reviewed to meet the ongoing patient needs of the primary health care system." The Ministry of Health with Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora will review capitation reweighting every five years, with the first review in 2028 so that it remains fit for purpose. College Chief Executive, Toby Beaglehole says "I'd like to acknowledge Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora and the Minister for their support of our advocacy and their willingness to work with the College to better fund the future of our primary care workforce in New Zealand. Today is a massive win for putting patients first, and as the Minister said a first step in delivering a sustainable primary care workforce for general practice and rural hospital medicine."
Techday NZ
2 days ago
- Techday NZ
Healthcare leaders optimistic on GenAI, but face major hurdles
New research from NTT Data has revealed a significant gap between healthcare leaders' ambitions for generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and their ability to deliver on these strategies. The findings, based on a survey of 425 healthcare decision-makers across 33 countries, indicate that while more than 80% of healthcare organisation leaders report having a well-defined GenAI strategy, only 40% believe that strategy is strongly aligned with their broader business objectives. Additionally, just 54% said their GenAI capability could be classified as high performing. Key challenges identified The research comes at a time when the UK Government's 10-year Health Plan has set a target to make the NHS the most AI-enabled health system in the world. While leaders in the sector widely recognise the potential for GenAI to accelerate research and development (94%) and improve patient outcomes, they also highlight a series of barriers, including a lack of necessary skills (75%), legacy infrastructure (91%), and security concerns (91%). A substantial majority (95%) of respondents consider cloud-based solutions as the most practical and cost-effective means for fulfilling their GenAI technology requirements. However, progress has been slowed by data security, privacy, ethical issues, and the challenges of regulatory compliance, according to the NTT Data report titled GenAI: The Care Plan for Powering Positive Health Outcomes . Tom Winstanley, Chief Technology Officer at NTT Data UK & Ireland, said: "Our report analyses the importance of AI to healthcare, which has just been demonstrated in the contents of the UK Government's latest 10 Year Health Plan for England. The plan aims to make the NHS the most AI-enabled health system in the world and calls for all hospitals to be fully adopt AI, driving the UK to the forefront of investment and adoption. To achieve this, it aims to support all doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals with trusted AI assistants, signalling a bridge across the skills gap exposed in the report, whilst securely leveraging the wealth of health data within the NHS." Security and compliance concerns Despite investment in GenAI showing benefits in compliance and adherence to processes, 91% of healthcare executives expressed concerns about privacy violations and the potential misuse of Protected Health Information (PHI). Only 42% strongly agreed that their current cybersecurity controls are effective in protecting GenAI applications. Nonetheless, the perceived benefits of GenAI remain high, with 87% of respondents agreeing that the long-term potential of GenAI outweighs the risks associated with security and legal challenges. Looking ahead, 59% plan to make significant investments in GenAI over the next two years. Technical and workforce readiness Outdated technology and insufficient data readiness also impact GenAI deployment. According to the research, 91% of respondents said that legacy infrastructure affects their ability to effectively use GenAI. Meanwhile, only 44% strongly agreed they had made sufficient investments in data storage and processing capabilities for GenAI workloads, and 48% had assessed the readiness of their data and platforms for such applications. Developments in patient care Human-focused GenAI solutions are seen as facilitating greater efficiency for clinical and administrative staff, while maintaining patient-centred care. Examples include using AI to predict chronic disease for early intervention and speeding up administrative checks. The report highlights NTT Data's collaborative work with The Royal Marsden, a cancer treatment centre in the UK, to develop an AI-powered radiology analysis service intended to support medical imaging research and improve outcomes for cancer patients. Flann Horgan, Vice President, Healthcare at NTT Data UK & I, said: "This partnership illustrates how AI technology can be harnessed for good. The ethical and secure use of AI in healthcare is central to our mission to build a smarter, healthier society, and this project is a blueprint for what responsible innovation looks like in practice. We are proud to support The Royal Marsden in pushing the boundaries of cancer research." Addressing the steps needed for success, Sundar Srinivasan, Senior Vice President, Healthcare, NTT Data North America, emphasised: "To achieve GenAI's full potential in healthcare, organisations must align the technology to their business strategies, develop comprehensive workforce training, and implement multi-layered governance strategies that prioritise people and keep humans in the loop. It's vital to transparently show how the technology benefits patients by complementing human workers." Survey methodology The report's respondents comprise 81% from large enterprises with more than 10,000 employees; 70% are from the C-suite, while 28% are vice presidents, heads or directors, and 3% are senior managers or specialists. A total of 28% hold IT-specific roles.
