Jones MarciaPreliminary engagement with primary and community health care staff has revealed a number of challenges. These include:
- Workforce shortages are causing pressures in many health professions, and many health workers report feeling burned out;
- Primary care providers such as GPs are doing more work and it is more complex. Many practices have had to close their books to new patients;
- Current funding models are not working well for primary care providers and their patients;
- Fragmented health care means that there are not always good links between different types of primary and community health care;
- Primary and community health care providers do not always have the necessary tools, including infrastructure and technology.
Most New Zealanders access health care through local primary and community health services. For many people, the current healthcare system works well. However, some groups, including Māori, Pacific, women, people with disabilities, people with low socioeconomic status, rural people, refugees and migrants, and rainbow communities, face greater challenges in accessing primary and community health care.
Some of the challenges people face include:
- Cost, including patient co-payments and service fees;
- Lack of services, including difficulties with making an appointment or getting an appointment with a GP. Some GPs have closed their services to new patients;
- Difficulties with access to services, including after hours, especially for rural communities;
- Focus on treating problems rather than preventing them;
- Cultural insecurity – under-representation of Māori, Pacific and people with disabilities in the workforce, and inconsistent cultural and disability competencies.
