Mr. Bernard Gloster:

I will mention two things and maybe Dr. Henry can assist me with this. In terms of rural GP practices, the reality is that the traditional model of general practice is not sustainable. In rural areas of isolation, the work is now too hard and people will not do it that way. In recent years, we first targeted the introduction of doctors, particularly from South Africa, towards either rural areas or areas of disadvantage. They come here and work with existing GPs for two years and then they can qualify to be added to the register for GPs. Those doctors are taking up some of the slack.

Second, we increased the number of training places from 280 to 350 a year for the supply of GPs. That increase should keep us steady with the rate of retirements, albeit it will not keep it steady in every location.