Doctors fear Government manipulation

Press, 13 August 1986, Page 8

Doctors fear Government manipulation

P& Wellington A dual funding scheme for family doctors, recommended by the Board of Health, set the stage tor "Government manipulation” of how. doctors are paid, according to the chairman of the General Practitioners' Society, Dr Roger Ridley-Smith. 'The board’s discussion papers, released last 1 week, suggested that gentheir income from the Government, based on the size of their practice, and the other half from a fee tor service paid by clients. Both halves of the funding formula would be independently negotiated, and neither would be compulsory, the paper said. The chairman of the Board of Health, which advises "the Minister of

Heatth, said the board had formulated the dual SnceJn toFtbe mort seS ible way to pay femilv doctors. But Dr Ridiey-Smith said that white he did not doubt the board’s intentions, the scheme if put into use would lead to the Government's pushing for a capitation scheme, under which doctors received only a set fee 1 from the 'Goverafoent - 1 ” :j •That is what the G.Ps of the country do not want,” he said. "We think it Is of no interest . One commitlee after another looks at the funding of primary medical care, nothing ever happens, and funding remains inadequate.’’ The New Zealand Medical Association has said It is looking at the paper very closely, but has no reaction to it yet