G.P.s say patients cannot afford them

Press, 22 October 1980, Page 6

G.P.s say patients cannot afford them

NZPA Wellington Patients are being forced to go to' hospital casualty j departments tor treatment! because they cannot, to pay their own doctors, says the Wellington chairman of the General Practitioner Society,' Dr Roger Ridley-Smith. He believes there should be an immediate increase in the Government subsidy- on treatment to relieve the burden. ; Adults visiting a doctori could .be paying $7 or $8 ‘ each time, and the Govern- I ment’s present subsidy oni each adult consultation wasl virtually worthless, he Said. | The subsidy start in 1942; at 75c. This had ’ibeen in-j creased only once for adults I since then, to $1.25 for each ■ visit. The subsidy on children’s visits stood at $4.75.

It was the adult subsidy that needed an urgent review, Dr Ridley-Smith said. If the Government im-

proved funding to general; practice it would stop the; “march to the hospitals" by people going there to seek j treatment rather than run-| ning up bills with their own | doctors, he said. . ; In the' long run, hospital care was more expensive, and these patients should be seeing their local doctors. Dr" Ridley-Smith said the society was concerned about; the economics of general? practice over all. He felt! that -the Government was allowing the service to run down. There had been suggestions of removing the Govemment consultation subsidy altogether along With the wage subsidy for practice nurses, he said. Society representatives held a ’meeting last week with the Minister of Health (Mr Gair) to talk about increasing the consultation! subsidy and to express its concern that, under new Accident Compensation regu-{

lations, patients had to pay the cost of the first two visits to the doctors.

Dr P. J. Musgrove, presi. dent-elect of the Canterbury division of the New Zealand Medical Association; said last evening that he agreed with the facts outlined by Dr Ridley-Smith.

As far as general practice was concerned, it had to face the same financial difficulties as the rest of the community, he said. f

When the social securityscheme was first negotiated, the amount which the patient had to pay was onethird of the total consultation fee. l “This, has been lost sight of over the years except tor the amount paid for children. The Medical Association would agree that to keep faith and to develop the health service, a .greater Government contribution on behalf of patients towards the consultation fee is called for.”