Erosion of care feared

Press, 12 May 1984, Page 2

Erosion of care feared

PA Hamilton Medical care in New Zealand may be eroded by the Government’s $1 limit fee increase guideline for doctors, warned the chairman of the Medical Association, Dr Dean Williams, yesterday. He said that the limit could cause doctors to cut their time with patients if they felt they could no longer afford a long consultation. “We believe doctors care about their patients and will endeavour to let this have no effect. But in reality it may have a tendency that

way.” At a press conference in Hamilton, Dr Williams said that although the association could not direct members on financial matters it was important members were aware of Government concern about recent medical fee increases. “It appears from a preliminary survey by the Trade and Industry Department that members should not raise their fees more than $1 for an ordinary consultation unless such an increase could be justified to the satisfaction of the Department,” he said. The guideline was defined

for the association at a meeting with the Minister of Health, Mr Malcolm, in Wellington on Wednesday and the association agreed to explain it to members. “We are not saying necessarily that the association agrees with it completely, but it is the regulation under which we must work,” Dr Williams said yesterday. He said that Mr Malcolm had indicated that if more complete surveys by the Trade and Industry Department showed higher rises were justified, they would be allowed. There was evidence that some practices

already might be able to justify higher increases than the guideline. Dr Williams said that even with the $1 increase New Zealand doctor fees were extraordinarily, perhaps inappropriately, low as doctor care was today’s best buy. If doctors were not allowed to charge a proper upper limit they were unable to charge a forgiving lower limit. “The Minister has called us greedy, yet admits that 25 per cent of fees are probably remitted in total or in part,” Dr Williams said.