NZRDA Negotiates Significant Increases to GP Salaries
The New Zealand Resident Doctors’ Association (NZRDA) has concluded negotiations with the Royal College of General Practitioners (RNZCGP) that sees resident doctors in general practice training receiving salary increases of up to 21.2%.
“We have been saying for years that one of the biggest barriers to doctors entering general practice is the disparity in pay” says NZRDA National Secretary Dr Deborah Powell “while it is good these rates are now increasing, it’s a shame it took a workforce crisis of this magnitude to get them.” This year saw enrolments in the general practice vocational pathway sitting significantly below the 300-400 doctors needed to enter GP training each year to provide the level of primary care New Zealanders need, a trend that has been emerging over the past few years.
The general practice training programme sees doctors leaving the hospital setting and working out in the community, employed either by individual practices or by the RNZCGPs in their first year of training. “These rates are much more aligned to what is paid to an equivalent hospital employed doctor” adds Powell “we hope this increase will see more resident doctors entering the general practice workforce and start to turn around the crisis that has been building for years.”
ENDS
Contact: Dr Deborah Powell
National Secretary
New Zealand Resident Doctors’ Association
Mobile 021 614 040
Resident Doctors and Senior Medical Officers
Resident Doctors are also known as RMOs or Resident Medical Officers. The term SMO (Senior Medical Officer) is the equivalent term for Senior Doctors or consultants working in NZ’s public health system. Resident doctors are registered medical practitioners ranging from new graduates fresh out of medical school through to vocationally registered GPs and SMOs. They can be a resident doctor for up to 13 years, during which time they continue with postgraduate training in specialist fields such as GP, paediatrics, surgery, pathology, and so on. Once they complete this additional training they become GPs or SMOs.