New Waikato medical school gets government green light
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Hip Hip Hooray – Government Finally Updates Antiquated Funding Formula
General practice owners are delighted that the Government is modernising the way it funds community doctors to better reflect the needs of patients. Cabinet has broadened the range of factors which influence funding from just age and sex, to include deprivation, multi-morbidity, and rurality. 'The capitation system, which determines how general practices are funded, hasn't been meaningfully updated since it was established in 2002,' says Dr Angus Chambers, Chair of the General Practice Owners Association (GenPro). 'Despite numerous reviews and the widely supported recommendations of the 2022 Sapere report, little progress had been made. This lack of action by successive governments perpetuates inequities and undermines the sustainability of primary care.' 'GenPro has been calling for a funding review for years, so hats off to Health Minister Simeon Brown for finally getting it done and implemented from July next year. 'In particular we support the addition of funding criteria such as deprivation – a marker of high health needs – and rurality, as rural areas have less access to health services under the current formula. GenPro also supports regular updates of capitation every five years, starting in 2028. 'GenPro also welcomes Minister Brown's announcement of increased funding to support general practitioners in training, and putting more structure around feedback from the sector. We invite him to work with GenPro to design a health target so we can see patients as soon as we can. 'GenPro is also pleased with the announcement of a group to advise the minister on primary care. We believe that decisions made by successive ministers have suffered from poor advice from the Ministry of Health and Health New Zealand leading to the current workforce and funding crisis affecting General Practice. Better advice will be essential to a high performing system in the future. 'These are all positive signs and, along with recent funding increases announced in the Budget, indicate improvements that will make a real difference for patients.' GenPro members are owners and providers of general practices and urgent care centres throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. For more information visit
Newsroom
an hour ago
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Climate Commission delivers inconvenient truths to Govt
Analysis: Climate policy is in many ways one of the most wickedly complex areas of government. The workings of the Emissions Trading Scheme, aligning scientific findings about difference greenhouse gases or climate impacts with policy design and even just measuring emissions from a cow can all be embroiled in subjective, heated debates. On occasion, though, it can be as simple as basic arithmetic. That's where the Climate Change Commission has landed with its progress report on the Government's climate policies, released early Friday before markets opened. Chief executive Jo Hendy tells Newsroom it's the commission's first chance to 'run the ruler' over the Government's climate plan, released in December. It's only the second-ever progress report, with last year's version having mostly evaluated then-cancelled Labour policies because the Government hadn't yet announced its own approach. While a lot of complex analysis underpins the independent watchdog's findings, the headline information is the result of a simple adding up exercise that effectively cuts through the Government's spin on how ambitious its climate plan really is. New Zealand is on track to meet the first five-yearly emissions budget – here, the commission agrees with the Government. The rest of the picture looks far less rosy. For the second budget, covering 2026 to 2030, there are moderate to significant delivery risks – and much greater ones than featured in last year's report. The Government's own projections leave it with just a couple million tonnes of headroom, which could easily be wiped out by a dry year prompting the burning of Huntly's coal stockpile, a wildfire or big storm destroying a large enough forestry block or the failure of the already shaky carbon capture policy. The real concern comes for the third budget and the 2050 net zero target, where again the delivery risks have grown. 'Current plans are insufficient to meet the third budget and further action is required. There are also significant risks for meeting the 2050 target unless further action is taken,' the commission writes. The Government's projections show it still has to cut emissions by over nine million tonnes over the third budget period. While Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says the Government will sort out how to do so in its third emissions reduction plan in 2029 (a point by which he also presumably hopes to no longer be responsible for sorting that out), the commission says that leaves it too late. Watts' current climate plan cuts emissions by just 3.3 million tonnes in the second budget period and he's already pretty confident that's everything the Government can do. (The commission, for what it's worth, has found tens of millions of tonnes of additional cuts that a sufficiently motivated government could implement.) How, then, is a future government to nearly triple that total with a plan in 2029? 'The Government needs to act ahead of the next emissions reduction plan (due in 2029) as many options that would make a difference will take time to take effect. For example, New Zealand Steel's electric arc furnace took three years to progress from funding approval to operation,' the commission insists. Fortunately, the commission finds there are significant opportunities for the Government to make up the difference if it starts now. There are nearly 20 million tonnes of cuts New Zealand could achieve in the third budget period through fixing up the Emissions Trading Scheme and implementing additional targeted policies. Agricultural and power generation emissions alone could fall by enough to plug the gap through regulatory reforms and incentives for uptakes of new technologies. 'This isn't just about hitting a number on an emissions reduction target, it's also about doing it well so that we cut energy costs, create those new jobs, protect market access and ultimately it's about our competitiveness and resilience as a country – as well as making that better future for our kids,' Hendy says. The ball is now in Watts' court, but don't expect him to do much with it. The commission returns repeatedly in this report to another issue that Watts is sitting on: Whether the budgets actually need to be revised to be more ambitious, as it recommended last year. In brief, the commission found last year that accounting changes for how we measure the emissions of cows, cars and other greenhouse gas sources mean it will now be easier to meet the budgets. Those changes don't represent real action New Zealand has taken. If we wanted to preserve the original ambition the budgets represented when they were set in 2022, the commission reported, we would need to revise them downwards. Because those new recommended budgets are still on Watts' desk, the majority of the commission's report today checks progress against the existing targets. However, it does also note at points how much additional effort would be needed to meet its recommended budgets. For the second emissions budget, that would be another 15 million tonnes of cuts over the second half of the 2020s. For the third budget, another 18 million tonnes on top of that. Collectively, the revisions represent about half of New Zealand's annual gross emissions – or more than 30 times the reductions the Government claims will arise from its carbon capture policy. While there are some subjective inputs to these calculations by the commission, the bulk of it comes down to hard maths. Or, as Watts might label it, an inconvenient truth.
Scoop
an hour ago
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ProCare Welcomes Announcement From Minister To Strengthen Primary Care Funding And Access
Leading healthcare provider, ProCare, has today welcomed the announcement from Health Minister Simeon Brown which outlines a number of initiatives aimed at improving access to primary care, particularly in rural and high-needs communities. The proposed update to the capitation funding model—set to take effect from 1 July 2026—is particularly encouraging. Bindi Norwell, Chief Executive at ProCare says: 'The current model has been long overdue for reform. By factoring in multimorbidity, rurality, and socioeconomic deprivation, the new approach promises to better reflect the realities faced by general practices and the whānau and communities they serve. 'This is a positive step forward for the health system and for patients across Aotearoa, and we're pleased to see the Government recognising the critical role primary care plays in delivering timely, equitable, and community-based healthcare,' continues Norwell. 'Additionally, the Minister stated that some practices would not see a benefit from re-weighting capitation, and whilst this might be so, we will be advocating hard to make sure additional money is invested in the new formula to avoid any practices going backwards through this change. It would be a shame to lose ground after such a successful PSAAP round only a month ago'. ProCare also supports the introduction of a new national health target to ensure more than 80 percent of people can access a GP within one week. 'As we've said time and time again, primary care is the fence at the top of the cliff, rather than the ambulance at the bottom. Timely access to care is essential for preventing more serious health issues and reducing pressure on hospitals. We look forward to working with the Government to help shape this target in a way that is both ambitious and achievable, and that works for both patients and practices,' says Norwell. 'We also remain committed to recognising and mitigating unintended consequences of targets on the health system. We are well aware of issues when similar targets have been introduced in hospitals in NZ, and overseas in general practice, and will work on our members' behalf to mitigate these'. The additional investment in general practice training is another welcome move. 'Funding the full pathway for GPEP trainees is an absolute game-changer. We know how difficult financially it is for GPEPs, and anything that can be done to ease the financial burden and cover costs will be welcomed by those trainees. 'The funding for GPEPs also sends a strong signal that general practice is a valued and a vital specialty, and it will help build a stronger pipeline of GPs for the future,' points out Norwell. However, ProCare cautions that implementation will be key. 'As always, the devil is in the detail. We'll be watching closely to ensure these changes are rolled out in a way that genuinely supports practices and improves outcomes for patients. We also look forward to continuing to work with the Government and sector partners to ensure these reforms deliver meaningful improvements for primary care providers and the communities they serve,' concludes Norwell. About ProCare ProCare is a leading healthcare provider that aims to deliver the most progressive, pro-active and equitable health and wellbeing services in Aotearoa. We do this through our clinical support services, mental health and wellness services, virtual/tele health, mobile health, smoking cessation and by taking a population health and equity approach to our mahi. As New Zealand's largest Primary Health Organisation, we represent a network of general practice teams and healthcare professionals who provide care to more than 830,000 people across Auckland and Northland. These practices serve the largest Pacific and South Asian populations enrolled in general practice and the largest Māori population in Tāmaki Makaurau. For more information go to
