Bin to restrict overseas doctors

Press, 22 August 1979, Page 2

Bin to restrict overseas doctors

PA Wellington Doctors who have not lived in New Zealand for at least six consecutive months in three years will be liable to have their names removed from the Medical Register under the Medical Practitioners Amendment Bill introduced into Parliament yesterday.

But this will not apply to graduates of New Zealand medical schools. The Minister of Health (Mr Gair), said many overseas doctors who probably had no intention of practising in New Zealand had taken out registration as *'a sort of insurance” because of the lack of internal stability in their own countries.

Doctors had visited New Zealand, “sometimes in chartered planeloads," to register and had then flown off again.

Doctors from South Africa, Hong Kong, and Canada were among those who had registered in New Zealand.

The extent of the problem was shown by the fact that 7745 names were on the register at June 30, but only 5341 practising certificates had been issued for 1978-79.

Mr D. R. Lange (Lab., Manere) asked if the New Zealand medical profession was simply trying to protect itself because of the surplus of doctors. He asked for an assurance that the Health Department would seek to use overseas skill and not have the medical profession “crippled by total insularity.” The Deputy Leader of the Opposition (Mr Tizard) asked how the bill would affect the reciprocal rights of New Zealand doctors overseas.

Mr Gair said New Zealand was following rather than leading other countries in imposing restrictions. New Zealand doctors going to the United States and Canada were already having difficulty practising. Several Australian states had taken comparable action to protect their own position. Mr Lange said New Zealanders who graduated overseas would have to be resident in New Zealand for six months before they could practise. The Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) said this point was a reasonable one but would best be discussed in a select committee. The bill was referred to the Social Services Select Committee.