Why Labour doesn’t think its three free GP visits will overwhelm clinics
Monday, 18 May 2026
Labour's Dr Ayesha Verrall is adamant that her fees-free GP policy will not overwhelm clinics, despite featuring no commitment to fund the training of more doctors.
The policy has faced sustained criticism from Health Minister Simeon Brown, who says the free visits would increase demand on GP clinics without any plan to increase the number of doctors.
“Right now, the biggest challenge facing patients is simply being able to get an appointment in the first place,” he said.
In a sit-down with The Post, Verrall said cutting paperwork for doctors through AI and her plans to introduce a triaging system would free up 4.5 million appointments overall.
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Labour’s modelling anticipated two million more appointments a year once the scheme was fully rolled out after Budget 2028 ‒ increasing the number of appointments from 24 million to 26 million.
New Zealanders visited the GP on average two times each year. She expected an uptick in appointments if they were free, but did not anticipate every New Zealander would be using all three visits.
Instead of patients booking their appointments through a first come, first serve system, a nationwide triage system would see patients assessed over the phone to determine the level of care they need and when.
Verrall said this system meant many patients would not need to see the doctor at all, and instead be referred to a pharmacist or online resources on the Healthify website to manage symptoms ‒ which would temper the number of appointments booked by the worried well.
“We currently cram [patient education] in to a short appointment so making sure there are better ways of doing that is important.”
Evidence from Health Care Home practices saw 40% of patients who booked same-day appointments had their requests were resolved over the phone.
Increasing self management through online resourcing also meant people diagnosed with chronic conditions would not have to regularly see their GP to understand their symptoms.
“That sort of patient education is really important but right now it happens from a doctor and a 15-minute appointment.”
The latest annual health survey found that one in six adults did not see a GP in the past 12 months due to cost, while one in four cited difficulty getting an appointment as a barrier.
“Right now, 600,000 people can't afford to see their doctor. Unless we solve that problem, the problem of unmet need in our health system will never be addressed,” she said.
“I want to make sure that it is truly supporting accessing good care, not being a replacement for face to face care in under-resourced areas.”
Labour would also expand clinic consultation rooms in high-need areas, freeing up 180,000 GP visits a year, saying sometimes it was the lack of a room that was stopping clinics from seeing more patients.
A declining GP workforce
In the next five years, 34% of the GP workforce is set to retire, with a decreasing number of graduates filling those roles, a 2024 workforce survey from the college revealed.
The Labour Party has not committed to train any new GPs into the workforce, but Verrall said she did expect to see growth in the workforce through recent funding boosts from both major parties.
National has funded 100 clinical placements for overseas-trained doctors to work in primary care and up to 50 locally trained graduate doctors a year to train in primary care for four years.
Building the Waikato Medical School would see 120 additional doctors trained per year from 2028.
Labour’s funded 50 medical students in 2023 would be graduating and entering the workforce in 2029.
“I think there is a better future ahead for us in terms of the medical workforce, provided we can continue to make sure the pathways for those great young doctors into general practice and rural practice are easy to follow.”
Labour health policy, which includes plans to revolutionise the GP funding system and give doctors loans to start their own practices, would encourage doctors into the workforce, she said.
The family doctor loans scheme would provide up to 50 low-interest loans for GPs to buy into an existing general practice or establish a new practice, removing barriers for doctors wanting to set up their own practices.
Loans were available for owner-operated general practices, not large corporations, and doctors would have 10 years to repay the loans, which would be interest-free for the first two years.
Meanwhile Labour plans to set up an Independent Pricing Authority which would set prices for contracts based on costs, staffing, patient need and service delivery.
GPs currently submit pricing recommendations to Health NZ through a system called capitation, which gives clinics money based on how many patients are enrolled and their age and gender but bids are often reduced due to funding limits.
The Independent Pricing Authority would set a national rate instead, and Health NZ would be required to fund it the following year.
Verrall said the authority’s rulings would be bound to the Government, meaning Treasury would not be able to override decisions during Budget negotiations.
She said it was important for the authority had to have people with an understanding of primary care and the financial issues faced by those practices.
She said Labour’s focus was on attracting locally trained GPs rather than funding international doctors, as the retention rate was much higher for locally trained doctors.
The Medical Council reported that after 10 years, 70% of locally trained doctors were still working in NZ compared with only 20% of international doctors.
Verrall said Labour’s health policy was intended to address the challenge of high demand for health services.
“There is decades of evidence that it is access to general practice that is the most effective way of reducing the cost of care.
“Unless we make this change, every other effort to improve our health system will fail.”