Focusing on our collective strength

The knowledge and skill we have as a collective group of 5600 should not be underestimated

I am looking forward to giving the opening address at GP22: the Conference for General Practice, where the theme is making a statement about the dedication and importance of our workforce – Heart, mind, spirit: The strength in community medicine.

Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitahi

(My strength is not that of a single warrior but that of many)

With the introduction of the health reforms – the biggest change we have seen in the sector in 20 years – it is now more crucial than ever to ensure the voices of general practice and rural hospital medicine, and the in-depth specialist knowledge we hold about the health and wellbeing of New Zealand communities, are heard and addressed.

This year the RNZCGP expects about 700 delegates to join us in Christchurch from 22 to 24 July for this conference. They will listen to, learn from and engage with an impressive line-up of speakers consisting of our own members, experts and leaders within the health sector – including health minister Andrew Little and broadcaster John Campbell.

Our informative and educational programme will focus on the key topics that we should be advocating for and remind us that our strength is the foundation to a good health system.

Our sector is under pressure in many areas, and I want clarity about how the new health system that is tasked to prioritise primary and community care will work for and with us. Not addressing the pressure points for the sector will have significant consequences on specialist medical care in the community.

The issues and frustrations we are all experiencing are not new, but we are in a very different place than at this time last year.

We are still seeing COVID-19 circulating in the community and thousands of new cases a day being reported but – as I write – we are no longer dealing with the uncertainties of alert level changes, lockdowns and the seemingly endless changes to rules on mask-wearing, vaccinations and streaming in our clinics.

The issues we face are seen in many other countries but, as New Zealanders, we have always had new and innovative ways of tackling challenges and our conference is a chance to discuss this.

I am looking forward to spending the conference weekend surrounded by some of the people I’m proud to represent. I always say there’s no job I would rather be doing and I’m keen to again focus on why we chose this profession, how we use our specialist training to build trusted, lasting relationships with our communities, and the innovative ways we show just how crucial our first-port-of-call, front-line care is to the overall wellbeing of New Zealanders.

The knowledge and skill we have as a collective group of 5600 should not be underestimated. In 2020, we had 20.5 million contacts with patients and that number is expected to rise to 23 million by 2030. That is in only eight years’ time.

In those eight years, we need to dramatically increase our workforce so those who are set to retire feel they can stay a little longer, impart their knowledge to others and feel they are leaving the profession in a better place.

So, as the masters of innovation, let’s korero about what we can do now to ensure we retain and pass on as much of that institutional knowledge as possible, make general practice and rural hospital medicine an even more attractive and viable career choice, and ensure we are at the table for all the important discussions about the future of healthcare in New Zealand.

This year, we have extended an invitation to resident medical officers (RMOs) working in hospitals to join us and have the invaluable and unique opportunity to listen to our stories, speak to delegates at various stages of their careers, and find out how rewarding it is to be a specialist GP and rural hospital doctor.

If you are an RMO reading this, please join us and ask us the questions you have in the back of your mind about primary care and working in the community.

The college’s biennial Workforce Survey has recently been released and I would encourage members to take the 10 to 15 minutes to complete it and share your thoughts, worries and ideas for the future.

Your contribution really does make a difference and provides valuable data and trend information on retirement, income, employment status, working hours and demographics. Having this data allows us to advocate on your behalf more effectively about the issues that are front and centre for you.

Even two years on from the last survey, a large proportion of the media queries received by the college are still related to GP burnout and workforce shortages, which were key topics last time.

As college president and a working GP, I thoroughly enjoy the conference weekend and catching up with familiar and new faces, and being part of the healthy, robust and emotional discussions about every aspect of our workforce and sector.

For those attending, I encourage you to network, network, network. Catch up with former colleagues, friends, and mentors whom you may not have seen for a while. Seek out and chat to the RMOs and students – identifiable with bright orange lanyards – and remember to enjoy the inspirational programme that has been created for you.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Samantha Murton is a Wellington-based specialist GP and president of the RNZCGP