First Doctors Employed following Healthdownsouth Recruitment Drive
One month after the Otago and Southland District Health Boards' joint recruitment drive to the United Kingdom, the DHBs
have confirmed they have had their first two employment offers accepted and a further ten job offers have also been
made.
The "healthdownsouth" joint recruitment drive took place during October, with an Otago Southland recruitment team
attending the British Medical Journal Careers Fair, the Opportunities New Zealand Expo and a smaller information event
in Holland. The team met a total 347 people at the three events.
Leanne Samuel, Interim Chief Operating Officer Southland DHB, confirmed that one job offer for a junior doctor has
already been accepted in Southland and a junior doctor has also accepted and signed a job offer for Otago.
"Four job offers have also been made to mental health nurses and six job offers have been made to junior doctor
positions across the two DHBs," Mrs Samuel said.
Vivian Blake, Chief Operating Officer Otago DHB said that there were a further 30 candidates across medical, nursing,
allied health, mental health and management areas who are in active follow up with staff across the DHBs.
"It is pleasing to see this continued level of interest in our DHBs, following attendance at the expos. To have
successfully recruited two doctors as a direct result of our expo attendance is a very good result at this early stage,"
Mrs Blake said.
A pool of candidates is now commencing their respective registration processes before further follow up can be made. A
large number of other candidates have received initial contact and are now considering their options before further
contact and follow up is required.
ENDS