'Seagulls fighting over the last chip': GP says no parties have answers for health

Northland general practitioner Geoff Cunningham stated that political parties lack effective solutions for the region’s health crisis, comparing recent debates to seagulls fighting over the last chip. Speaking after a televised health discussion, Cunningham noted that approximately 25,000 residents in his area remain unregistered with a general practitioner. He criticized the current funding model as beyond broken and argued that no politician is adequately addressing the severe workforce shortages plaguing rural regions. Cunningham explained that recruiting and retaining GPs in Northland is difficult because practitioners work significantly harder for lower pay compared to their urban counterparts. With a twelve-year training period required to become a general practitioner, he insisted that the profession requires attractive conditions and remuneration to attract specialists. During the debate, Labour candidate Ayesha Verrall confirmed her party would maintain existing coalition government health targets if elected. She acknowledged that some of the proposed three free GP visits might involve nurse practitioners rather than doctors. Verrall also outlined plans for efficiency improvements, including a triaging system designed to reduce acute demand. National candidate Simeon Brown countered that Labour’s policies would clog the health system. He challenged Labour to release modeling data claiming their approach would free up four and a half million appointments, warning that failure to do so would result in an overwhelmed system. Brown asserted that the national health system is currently heading in the right direction, citing the new Waikato Medical School. This institution is scheduled to train an additional 120 doctors annually, with the first cohort starting in 2028. Sarah Dalton, head of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, told reporters that no one is discussing the medical workforce in a meaningful way. She emphasized that a safe and responsive health system must be led and staffed by senior doctors and dentists. Dalton argued that the push toward non-doctor healthcare roles is primarily driven by cost-cutting and a refusal to tackle recruitment challenges in hard-to-staff areas, rather than patient welfare. While she welcomed the expansion at Waikato Medical School, she noted that the benefits would not be realized for another ten to fifteen years. Dalton offered partial credit to Labour for focusing on acute flow in their policy platform. However, she warned that current targets prioritizing planned care and first specialist appointments force hospitals to neglect acute care and follow-up visits. Patients with chronic conditions, complex medication regimens, or mental health needs requiring regular psychiatric contact are disadvantaged by this focus. Regarding artificial intelligence, Cunningham dismissed it as a panacea for general practice. He described the technology as essentially a dictation service for note-taking that might allow doctors to leave work ten minutes earlier each day. He suggested that morning phone triages to resolve minor issues without in-person visits would be a more successful model than telehealth, given that clinics already possess patient records and familiarity.