General practitioners delay retirement to provide rural communities

General practitioners are coming out of retirement or putting it off to support their rural communities.

One doctor has taken to seeing patients in a caravan fitted out as a mobile clinic in his spare time.

"I think people like myself deserve to have a rest," said Dr Warren Nicholls, 80, after 50 years in general practice, .

He wasn't the only doctor putting off retirement: Medical Council of New Zealand data showed the share of GPs working past 65 hadw almost doubled in a decade.

Health New Zealand said GPs aged over 65 and younger GPs between 30-50 had increased in recent years. The workforce gap had arisen over the course of many years and could not be addressed all at once.

In the meantime, Nicholls had volunteered at the Glob van for four years, touring rural areas between New Plymouth and Foxton at market days, dog shows and rural festivals.

"I love my job, I love looking after people," Dr Nicholls explained. "We have proved beyond all doubt that there's a huge need out there, especially for people in the rural communities, which are socially and geographically isolated."

The van was originally set up by Agri-HQ, a media company based in Feilding, and gifted to the Lions Club.

The van was affectionately named 'Glob' after Agri-HQ's parent company, Global HQ.

He said it had screened 7300 people in the past four years, averaging 10 patients an hour. Screening revealed more than a quarter of participants had undetected health problems.

Nicholls said this was partly due to difficulty accessing and paying for primary care in rural areas, but mostly, it was because the most common conditions they found - such as high blood pressure - were asymptomatic.

The van was limited in the services it could offer - it didn't provide treatment and people had to be turned away, when capacity was exceeded.

Staff at the van checked medical history, filled out mental health questionnaires, and ran exams and blood tests.

"The feedback, which we ask for, is 100 percent positive," he said. "They absolutely love it and are extremely grateful."

For similar reasons, Dr Clare Ward, 77, unretired in 2022.

She said the main driver was the idea her patients might not have a doctor or would have a rotation of locum doctors without her.

"It seems like the antithesis of good patient care, if you like."

Ward explained good care went beyond "fixing up a broken wrist or a sore toe" - it involved building trust and relationships to spot issues.

Being a doctor in a rural community in Hokianga had brought her great joy, challenging her to be resourceful, she said.

"I think people only see the drudgery of it, but really drudgery is way outweighed by the satisfaction."

She agreed she couldn't keep working forever.

Ward said more doctors needed to work rurally or "what we've always regarded as good patient care is not going to exist anymore".

Royal New Zealand College of GPs president Dr Luke Bradford had noticed an "eroding of general practice as an attractive career choice to young doctors" over the years.

He said younger doctors chose to work in specialty medicine or hospitals, where pay and work conditions were often more desirable.

"A huge amount of what general practice does goes unrecognised. Our own research shows over 40 percent is often unpaid."

A Health NZ spokesperson said newly qualified doctors chose general practice more often than any other specialty.

"However, the numbers are not increasing fast enough to meet demand from an ageing and growing population."

He said there was a range of initiatives to attract and retain GPs, including increased funding for general practices and training.

He said primary care faced challenges, especially in rural areas.

"From 1 July, 2026, the capitation formula has also been updated so, for the first time, funding more closely aligns with the different needs of enrolled populations, including... those living in rural communities."