File photo of the reception and waiting room at Local Doctors Ōtara. Photo: Luka Forman
The government is doubling the number of nurse practitioners able to trained in GP clinics, to 120 every year.
The $34.2 million investment over five years will bring the total number of training places to about 180 from next year, with 120 in primary care and 60 in a hospital setting.
Unlike regular nurses, nurse practitioners can prescribe nearly any medicine or refer patients to specialist care.
Health Minister Simeon Brown made the announcement on Wednesday morning, as part of a package of initiatives being rolled out this week with a focus on reducing long wait times for patients to get primary care.
"This is about helping nurses to upskill," Brown told reporters at the Porirua Union and Community Health Service.
"They'll be able to then do a lot more...see a lot more patients... help manage long-term conditions of patients in the community without necessarily having to have a GP appointment every single time.
"We know if [nurses] start their career [in primary care], they're more likely to stay there, which is fantastic for... people who want to see their doctors and nurses sooner and quicker."
Health Minister Simeon Brown. Photo: RNZ / Nick Monro
The government has set itself a goal of recruiting up to 400 nurses a year into primary care roles.
Brown said today's announcement would be funded out of Health NZ's budget boost unveiled last year.
Another $21.6 million over four years would go towards helping more primary care registered nurses access advanced tertiary education.
Brown said he was confident GP clinics would have the resources to carry out the additional training. Earlier this week, he announced an incentive payment of $15,000 for city-based providers and $20,000 for rural providers for every graduate nurse they hire.
"My grandad lives in Eketāhuna - he probably won't mind me saying that - there's a nurse-led service there which supports him with his healthcare," Brown said.
"There's an increased payment in primary practice in rural environments, such as Eketāhuna, so that we can encourage those people to work in those communities as well."
Brown acknowledged primary care nurses were, on average, paid less than their hospital counterparts, an issue he said would "take time to fix".
"The average nurse in our hospitals is now paid an average $125,000 a year... obviously there's work now to do around shifting the emphasis back to primary care."
