New report calls for 'change in thinking around GP workloads and the funding model'
Specialist GPs and rural hospital doctors in New Zealand are experiencing increased workloads and extended hours due to ongoing workforce shortages, according to a new study by the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (RNZCGP).
The study, part of the RNZCGP's "Your Work Counts" project, gathered data over a two-week period to assess how specialist GPs and rural hospital doctors allocate their time across key tasks.
The data revealed that clinical contact time with patients accounted for most of the participants' time, taking up 56.4% over the two-week period.
Non-contact clinical time, which includes paperwork, emails, and other administrative tasks resulting from patient consultations, came in second, occupying 30.8% of their time. Time spent on other key tasks include:
"These results show that over an eight-hour working day (without breaks), 4.5 hours of patient consultations generates 3.5 hours of follow-up work and helps to explain why getting an appointment can be difficult," said Dr. Luke Bradford, College Medical Director and a GP in Tauranga, in a statement.
"To make ourselves available to see more patients, many choose to move the non-contact clinical work into our evenings or weekends, or sacrifice training, teaching or clinical governance time to complete it. This is the work that we are not remunerated for, despite it being a core part of our role."
Hospital-based specialists also have clinical time accounting for approximately 70% of their role, which includes non-contact clinical work for their patients, according to Bradford.
"All health professionals have patient follow-up, so why is the way it's remunerated and structured so different?" he said.
Meanwhile, the report also revealed that 14% of the respondents worked all 14 days in the study, while 15% worked all four weekend days. Other respondents also reported the following working hours:
Dr. Samantha Murton, College President and Wellington GP, said they are working longer hours in an bid to plug the gaps of workforce shortages in New Zealand.
"But these extra hours of work, paired with all the follow-up work that comes with it, is not a long-term solution," Murton said in a statement.
Bradford said the results show the heavy demand placed on the workforce as well as the need for a "change in thinking around GP workloads and the funding model."
"Having dedicated and remunerated time to do important patient follow-up and administrative work during the day is not an unreasonable expectation to have. Neither is working more manageable hours and having a sustainable patient load," Bradford said.
