The NZMA General Practitioner Council (GPC) represents the interests of GPs across a broad range of issues. GPC members openly debate issues of concern to general practice, and develop consensus policy that benefits our patients and professional environment. The NZMA is also a member of the General Practice Leaders’ Forum.

If you are interested in becoming a member of the GPC and want to know what's involved, click here.

Current GPC members

Dr Jan White (Chair), Dr Buzz Burrell, Dr Anne-Marie Cullen, Dr Bill Douglas, Dr Nina Sawicki, Dr Jocelyn Wood, Dr Kate Baddock (Chair, NZMA, ex officio), Lesley Clarke (CEO, NZMA, ex officio).

GPC advocacy

The NZMA GPC strongly supports better integration of primary and secondary care, with more care being provided in a non-hospital setting. However it has expressed the need for improved clinical engagement  and the need for appropriate funding. The input and engagment of clinicians is essential in determining our future health care delivery. The GPC advocates on a diverse range of issues such as better GP education and training, after hours services and ensuring changes to our health system, such as proposed changes to prescribing, do not lead to fragmentation of care. The GPC has input into NZMA submissions. Read copies here.

NZMA GPCME conferences

Find out about New Zealand's largest, most successful GP conferences (in both the North and South Islands), held annually www.gpcme.co.nz/.

Columns by GPC Chair

The following articles were originally published in New Zealand Doctor:

2014

• September: Guidelines not the be-all and end-all of better healthcare
  
• July: Injury or illness – will ever the twain be covered?
  
• June: Opening the tin reveals what general practice has achieved
  
• May: IMGs and their role as part of the NZ workforce
  
• March: Taking up the challenge of being proper family doctors
  
• February: Where has all the money gone? Not to GPs’ business growth
  

2013 

• October: Subsidies strike at heart of how teams work together
• August: Guided care worth a look in general practice
• July: Why do people use complementary and alternative medicines when the evidence is decidedly dodgy?
• June: More prescribing, the better health outcomes: Where's the evidence?
• April: Physician assistants: good questions, soon to be answered
• March: Staying awake for lesson on quality
• January: What's going to happen in 2013?

2012

• November: Integration - What will it deliver?
• October: The changing face of professionalism (PDF)
• August: Self regulation part of the deal (PDF)
• July: Euthanasia - the global debate (PDF)
• April: New freedoms, new responsibilities (PDF)
• March: Professionalism in medicine (PDF)

2011

• November: What makes a good PHO? (PDF)
• September: Health and communities (PDF)
• August: Health equity and our children - where to from here? (PDF)
• July: Health Inequities in New Zealand (PDF)
• June: Reflecting on time as GP Council chair (PDF)
• April: Supporting global health issues benefits New Zealand health goals (PDF)
• March: Resolving access to after hours care remains a priority (PDF)

2010

• November: Doctors often left in the dark over mergers (PDF)

Seeking member feedback

The GPC is keen to hear from members about issues of concern which it would like the committee to advocate on. Email: nzma@nzma.org.nz.

New Zealand Medical Journal articles of interest to general practitioners, include:

Will brief interventions in primary care change the heavy drinking culture in New Zealand?
J Douglas Sellman, Jennie L Connor, Geoffrey M Robinson
11-May-2012, Vol 125, No 1354
[full text]

Skin infections in children in a New Zealand primary care setting: exploring beneath the tip of the iceberg
Cathryn O’Sullivan, Michael G Baker
11-March-2012, Vol 125, No 1351
[full text]

The financial impact of clinical task substitution between practice nurses and GPs in New Zealand primary care centres
Martin Hefford, Tom Love, Jacqueline Cumming, Mary Finlayson, Antony Raymont
09-September-2011, Vol 124, No 1342
[full text]

What do specialists and GPs think about the introduction of colorectal cancer screening? A qualitative study
Gillian M Abel, Lee Thompson
08-July-2011, Vol 124, No 1338
[full text]

Unmet need of GP services in Pacific people and other New Zealanders
Megan J Pledger, Jacqueline Cumming, Mili Burnette, Jacob Daubé
13-May-2011 Vol 124, No 1334
[full text]

The climate change challenge for general practice in New Zealand
Rochelle Phipps, Rebecca Randerson, Grant Blashki
29-April-2011 Vol 124, No 1333
[full text]

A comparison of Māori and non-Māori experiences of general practice
Peter Jansen, Kira Bacal, Stephen Buetow
4-March-2011 Vol 124, No 1330
[full text]

Continuity of care with general practitioners in New Zealand: results from SoFIE-Primary Care
Santosh Jatrana, Peter Crampton, Ken Richardson
11-February-2011 Vol 124, 1329
[full text]

Can general practitioners provide effective cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention? Dreams and realities of CVD prevention
Emily Gill, Dee Mangin
21-January-2011 Vol 124, No 1328
[full text]

The B4School Check - addressing the new morbidity in child health
Pat Tuohy
26-Nov-2010 Vol 123, No 1326
[full text]

Links

For information about the Rural GP Network Locum Scheme, visit their website: www.nzlocums.com.