Relocation Funding to Support the International Recruitment of Rural General Practitioners

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is providing relocation funding to support the international recruitment of GPs to work for rural primary care providers. 

This initiative will enable rural primary care providers to be better positioned to attract and retain internationally recruited GPs, while we invest in growing more sustainable domestic GP workforce supply pathways. Supporting and strengthening rural primary care will enable rural communities to have better and more equitable access to health care in their local communities to help them stay well. 

Funding for this initiative opened on 1 September 2023 and will close on 30 June 2024. 

If you are a rural primary care provider looking to recruit an international GP, and want to gain access to this funding, please fill out our application form. 

You can read through our guidance document (PDF, 231 KB) for more information about the application process.

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This funding is being provided to contribute to the relocation expenses of internationally recruited GPs who take up a new job or sign an employment agreement with an eligible rural primary care provider between 1 September 2023 to 30 June 2024 (inclusive). 

We will provide up to $20,000 (plus the PAYE and 1.53% ACC levy) in two lump sum payments over a two-year bonding period for each eligible internationally recruited GP who takes up a new role with an eligible rural primary care provider. 

Funding will be transferred to the eligible internationally recruited GP through their employer if the application for funding is approved. 

Funding will be transferred to the eligible rural primary care provider for payment to the eligible recruited GP in two instalments comprising: 

• Instalment 1: 50% of the funding will be paid when the newly recruited eligible GP starts working for the eligible rural primary care provider. 
• Instalment 2: 50% of the funding will be paid after the GP has worked for 12 months, conditional on the GP committing to work for the eligible rural primary care provider for a further 12 months. 

The eligible rural primary care provider will provide the lump sum payment to the internationally recruited GP and will ensure that the relevant PAYE and 1.53% ACC levy are paid to IRD. A bonding arrangement will apply within the terms of the employment agreement with the recruited GP.

To be eligible for this funding, the rural primary care provider must meet all of the following criteria: 

For the purposes of the rural GP relocation support funding, the primary care provider can be treated as a rural primary care provider because: 

• it receives rural funding from Te Whatu Ora (usually via a PHO), OR 
• because the practice is located in R1, R2 or R3 according to the Geographic Classification for Health (GCH), OR 

This classification system determines the rurality of the general practice, based on the practice’s geographical location. This classification system is updated following every census. 

• because the practice is in practice distance decile 9 or10 of the Patient Centred Health Services Spatial Accessibility Index (PCHSSAI).  

Primary practices in practice distance decile 9 or10 of the PCHSSAI are the 20% of practices whose enrolled patients live most remotely from primary care facilities and from secondary or tertiary hospitals. Practices defined this way are almost all also in GCH R1, R2 or R3, but this definition picks up some practices located in the rural fringe of urban areas and classified as U1 or U2 in GCH, but whose patients mainly live further away from the urban centre. 

• The primary care provider has been unsuccessful in filling a GP vacancy for 6 months or more and can provide evidence of active recruitment over this time. 
• The GP position is a minimum of 0.8 FTE and a permanent position. 

To be eligible for this funding the internationally recruited GP must meet all of the following criteria: 

• Be registered to practise as a GP in New Zealand. 
• Take up a new job or sign an employment agreement with an eligible rural primary care practice between 1 September 2023 to 30 June 2024 (inclusive). 
• Relocate from an overseas location to take up a permanent GP position that is a minimum of 0.8 FTE. 
• Commence practising with an eligible rural primary care provider. 

Applications must be submitted by an eligible rural primary care provider on behalf of an eligible internationally recruited GP. 

An eligible rural primary care provider can complete more than one application, however, only one application per GP applicant will be accepted.

Before completing this form, please read this application guidance document (PDF, 231 KB) and complete all sections with the most up-to-date and accurate information you have.

If you are a New Zealand trained General Practitioner (GP) based overseas and are interested in coming home to practice in a rural primary care setting, please contact us at ruralgprelocation@health.govt.nz

Funding applications will be reviewed monthly and assessed for eligibility.

Applicants will be notified via email of the outcome of their application.

The information supplied as part of a successful application will form the basis of a funding agreement between Health NZ and your organisation.