Desperation, uncertainty in the workforce and low morale is plaguing the health sector amid the Covid-19 crisis, the epidemic select committee heard today.
Dr Tim Malloy of the General Practice Owners Association told MPs today there were clinics "on the brink of financial unsustainability, which surely reflects poorly on a country in the midst of its battle with Covid-19".
"We have a workforce uncertain if they have jobs, with diminishing income and a failure of government to deliver timely resource to sustain us," Dr Malloy said.
Last week, the committee heard from the New Zealand Medical Association that there were questions over the survival of many practices due to a drop in patient numbers and issues around late payments or no payment at all from virtual consultations.
Dr Malloy said during the Covid-19 pandemic they had seen an unreliable supply of personal protective equipment (PPE), hiccups in the distribution of the flu vaccine and "disagreement on the resourcing package we were advised was coming".
National’s Shane Reti said he was receiving correspondence from clinics that were "absolutely desperate", with some asking if they needed to strike "to make the point we are failing and will fold".
"The messages you’re hearing are absolutely correct," Dr Malloy said.
"What we’re concerned about is the infrastructure of primary care is eroding at a time we need to be rebuilding it to the robust level it was previously. We need immediate resourcing now, in order to sustain our workforce.
"Morale has reached an incredibly low point at a time we should be patting ourselves on the back. We’re feeling almost abandoned and it’s a strange place to be and seems so unnecessary."
He said the pandemic demonstrated the funding model needed revision.
Last week, Health Minister David Clark said in a statement that the Government recognised the impact the lockdown has had on GPs "and the vital work they do".
"That’s why we’ve provided $45m to date in recognition of the costs they face. In addition, they are able in many cases to access our wage subsidy scheme. The Minister of Health and officials are currently discussing with GPs’ leadership what further funding may be required.
"We’ll provide further detail when those discussions have progressed."
A Ministry of Health spokesperson said GPs had received the initial $15m for Covid-19 response support and $7.8m to DHBs to reimburse practices for testing.
"A further $22.4m was paid to general practices in the last ten days, including a weighting for rural practices, to support general practice during Levels 3 and 4."
The Government kicked off its annual influenza vaccine campaign earlier than usual, with hope that by preparing for the flu, it would help manage the damage for hospitals during the Covid-19 outbreak.
As part of the push, 400,000 more flu vaccines would be available this year, compared to last year.
Expert witness Professor Des Gorman told the committee that it was clear New Zealand was not prepared prior the pandemic, demonstrated by the number of intensive care beds, ventilators and limited testing and tracing capacity.
"The pandemic highlighted significant problems in the way in which our health system is structured, governed and is operated," he said.
Alison Eddy of the College of Midwives said that "morale had really suffered" throughout the industry and that midwives were operating with increased pressure amid an information void.
She said PPE distribution for midwives had improved, after there was "none to be found" in the first few weeks.
Ms Eddy said the pandemic environment had “simply exacerbated” existing funding concerns as there was no ability for the midwifery workforce to recoup its ‘out of pocket’ costs or to be reimbursed for additional time and work.
She said changes from the pandemic had seen early discharges from hospital, meaning some women were leaving just hours after given birth, as well as those who had had caesareans leaving "very, very quickly".
There had been an increase in home births as people wanted to avoid hospitals or wanting to avoid the rule of only being allowed one support person while giving birth.
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