13 December 2023

The country should be fuming about its ground-breaking legislation going up in smoke, writes Barbara Fountain

New PMAANZ chair Mary Morrissey backgrounds her experience in practice management, outlines her initial advocacy work and looks forward to working with other newly elected executive members

I feel empathy for Christopher Luxon because he and I share the same problem

Every issue of New Zealand Doctor Rata Aotearoa highlights a member of the general practice team, whom we have persuaded to share a few words about their life – their loves, loathes and things we may not have guessed about them. There were some common themes – children are often cited as the most significant achievement, lousy coffee and poor parking are common gripes about the practice, patients and colleagues are a highlight, and family are often named as favourite dinner guests.

Reporter Martin Johnston takes stock of the Coalition Government’s health policy announcements and the reactions within the sector, including disappointment over primary care’s continued wait for increased funding

As a fifth COVID wave slams the country, epidemiologist Michael Baker cautions against complacency, reports Alan Perrott

First-term National MP and specialist GP Vanessa Weenink is declining to comment on the new Government’s decision to repeal smokefree legislation passed last year by the Labour Government

Air pollution from fossil fuels accounts for 5.1 million extra deaths a year worldwide, according to a new modelling study published by The BMJ

Martin Johnston picks out some key news events for the primary care sector in 2023

The critical shortage of GPs is affecting the number of practices directly employing first-year trainees, reports Fiona Cassie