Without major reforms, Labour’s family scheme won’t help address GP shortages - experts

Pacific families are finding it harder to see a doctor, and with many general practitioners (GPs) close to retirement, the shortage is set to get worse.

The Labour Party’s new Family Doctor Loan Scheme (FDLS) aims to help, but experts say it won’t fix the bigger problems affecting Pacific communities.

Health leaders say the system is already struggling to keep up, and without wider changes, Pasifika families will continue to face long waits and limited access to care.

In an interview on Pacific Mornings, Sir Collin Tukuitonga, the University of Auckland’s Associate Dean for Pacific, says Pasifika families are unlikely to experience relief from Labour’s FDLS unless the wider workforce issues are resolved.

“Other things need to be done to actually attract the number of nurses and doctors that we want in these areas where access is a problem,” Tukuitonga says, adding that attracting more nurses and doctors to areas with limited access to care is important.

His comments followed the Labour Party’s announcement of the FDLS, designed to support doctors and nurse practitioners in starting up their practices.

Listen to Sir Collin Tukuitonga's full interview below.

The plan includes a low-interest loan with a 10-year repayment period, the first two years of which are interest-free.

The initiative comes after a survey revealed that two-thirds of GPs are expected to retire within the next decade, with many not being replaced.

Pacific communities continue to face challenges in accessing GPs. Only two per cent of doctors in New Zealand are Pacific. Tukuitonga says this is due to low pay compared to Australia, major student debt, and declining job satisfaction, which are driving graduates away from general practice.

Listen to the Labour Party's announcement below.

He says using nurse practitioners, who can diagnose, treat, and prescribe independently, is also key.

“It’s just been poorly led, poorly managed, poorly funded in New Zealand so our primary care system needs a real number of initiatives like this one to try to improve it,” Tukuitonga says.

“My understanding is that well-trained and well-supported nurse practitioners achieve similar outcomes to having more GPs.”

Former Labour MP Aupito William Sio says the broader challenge lies in ensuring communities feel recognised and supported.

Now working in the health sector in South Auckland after nearly 20 years as the MP for Māngere, he says many families are focused on basic needs like putting food on the table.

Listen to Aupito William Sio's full interview below.

He says many of his family members have moved to Australia and are enjoying better opportunities there, which he finds concerning.

“Barbara Edmonds’ message is that this isn’t just about the economic factors and how they play out in the economy, this is about real people, about real lives,” Aupito says. “That’s not what I want.

“One of the challenges that they [the Labour party] will have is to translate that pain and that hurt and that focus on putting food on the table into actions where people get out and vote.”