Not easy to leave busy practice: Porirua service turns away patients as GPs retire or leave town

Dr Weerakkody agreed to delay her leaving, but on the condition someone else looked after her inbox. Until then, “I was seeing my last patient at 4.30pm, but still not getting home until 6.30, and even then, I would still have to clear my inbox,” Dr Weerakkody says.

In Te Rangahau Ohu Mahi The Workforce Survey 2022, from the RNZCGP, 14 per cent of the 3356 GP respondents were aged 65 or over; 101 respondents were aged 75 or more.

The survey also found more than 30 per cent of respondents overall intended to retire over the next five years.

Porirua Union specialist GP and General Practice NZ chair Bryan Betty says: “It’s hard for everyone, recruitment is really difficult, I’ve seen a noticeable change in terms of our ability to attract doctors, it’s much more competitive.

“We’ve been advertising, but we haven’t had many responses,” Dr Betty says.

As a VLCA practice, Porirua Union struggles to compete on remuneration and conditions. The demands from a high caseload of complex patients are unavoidable, so they offer as much flexibility in working hours as possible.

“We’ve never had to close our books before, but we can’t keep taking patients when we don’t have the staff, which is not a position we want to be in, or continue, but it’s the reality,” he says.

“At the same time, the growth here, it’s huge, we have new developments and a lot of people moving in – we have a waiting list of 150 – so, it’s hard for our patients, it’s hard for the hospital, it’s hard for whānau, and it’s hard for our staff who are motivated to provide the best care they can.”