Reports highlight failure of specialist workforce planning

Reports highlight appalling failure of hospital specialist workforce planning; more specialist positions desperately needed

“Reports that much-needed medical graduates from overseas are unable to find jobs in New Zealand highlight the appalling failure of workforce planning for hospital specialist positions by the Government’s agency Health Workforce New Zealand and district health boards,” says Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS).

He was commenting on reports that overseas trained doctors are finding it difficult to compete with New Zealand and Australian medical graduates in the job market (https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/103932802/foreign-doctors-struggling-to-get-jobs-in-new-zealand).

Preliminary estimates of the projected number of graduates from New Zealand medical schools entering the specialist workforce (assuming it takes eight years on average to gain a specialist qualification after graduation) show that recruitment of overseas doctors is vital.

“New Zealand has some longstanding shortages in the senior medical workforce so we need well-trained and qualified overseas doctors to help address that,” says Mr Powell.

“Having them working in New Zealand will also help us keep up with the increasing pressures on the public health system of a growing and aging population.

“New Zealand already has one of the lowest numbers of specialists per capita in OECD countries, which represents a major planning failure that can be sheeted home to Health Workforce New Zealand and years of inaction by the previous government."

He says the Government’s Budget announcements on health are a positive first step but much more is needed to reverse years of neglect (https://www.asms.org.nz/news/asms-news/2018/05/17/some-budget-relief-for-public-health-in-sight-but-a-lot-more-needed/).

“Hospital specialists are paying for this politically created neglect with their health. The reported burnout rate of specialists is an alarming 50%. Because of shortages in our public hospitals too many specialists are working when they are sick, sometimes even when infectious. As many as 25% of specialists are intending to leave their public hospital employment in the next 5 years.

“Our public hospitals are well short of having enough doctors in training (resident or junior doctors) needed to address the serious undersupply of specialist positions in our public hospitals. This is the result of a failure to plan ahead by both Health Workforce New Zealand and DHBs”

Estimated number of NZ medical graduates entering the specialist workforce:

Sources: NZ Medical School Deans’ statistics; Ministry of Health specialist workforce projections; Medical Council medical workforce surveys.

Based on the trends indicated in the data, the estimates assume 8.4% of graduates do not register in New Zealand after graduation; and a further 25% are no longer employed in New Zealand 8 years after graduation.

“The Government needs to both provide the necessary funding and compel DHBs to hire the hospital specialists and future specialists they need to fill these shortages, both those that are advertised and those that never get advertised because of underfunding or bureaucratic neglect.

“Political direction from the Health Minister is needed to making addressing these shortages a major priority. The Government has made a positive start in the Budget, and now we want to see some real action on this.”

ENDS

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