The Government says a funding boost announced today will enable the employment of 50 new senior doctors, as well as additional specialist nurses and other health professionals to help fill “critical” workforce gaps.
The funding announcement made this morning by Health Minister Shane Reti would “help fill critical workforce gaps and support the health workforce to deliver on the Government’s health targets, particularly in regional or provincial hospitals”.
“This will reduce wait times, enhance patient safety and support vulnerable specialties like dermatology,” Reti said.
“Our senior doctors are key to keeping our hospitals functioning well, maintaining safety for patients and staff, and delivering quality care for New Zealanders, faster.
Health New Zealand anticipated the cost of 50 new senior doctors would be approximately $20 million, depending on the specialties of the new doctors and their level of experience.
This comes in addition to $10 million for senior specialist nurses and allied health professionals and a $12 million fund for minor improvements to hospitals, to make the daily lives of frontline staff and patients easier.
“While Health New Zealand has made significant progress recruiting nurses in the last 12 months, there are critical shortages in rural areas and particular specialties, such as mental health, maternity and critical care,” Reti said.
“Setting aside funding specifically to employ senior specialist nurses and allied health professionals will help sustain services that are struggling because of a lack specialist skills.”
The fund for make small improvements in hospitals was designed to improve the experience of patients and staff.
“This $12 million fund, divided between the four regions, is aimed at making small improvements that make a big difference for our highly valued frontline staff. This could be for minor repairs, replacement appliances for patients or staff, new books or toys for children undergoing treatment.”
“It’s up to each region how they make use of this funding, but I expect them to be able to access it quickly and easily, so they can get recruitment and minor repairs underway.”
‘A drop in the bucket’ – ASMS responds
Sarah Dalton from the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists told 1News the announcement was “a drop in the bucket” when it came to filling nationwide healthcare gaps.
“It’s just an announcement really. There’s very little — if any — work that has been done to fill significant vacancies around the country. It’s just another number to add to the missing doctors list as far as we can tell,” she said.
“It’s absolutely a drop in the bucket. And while we need more doctors, there’s no detail about where they’ll go, how they’ll be recruited and how they’ll [be] supported once they’re here.”
She said Medical Council data showed that nearly 50% of New Zealand’s senior medical workforce were “overseas trained” and said “about 70% of those doctors leave within 10 years”.
“So where’s the work to retain the people we have? To reward the work they’re doing and to make sure recruitment is sensible and appropriate to the conditions that we face.”
Dalton said a lack of funding and ongoing pay negotiations over the past four years had been a barrier to finding and retaining doctors, particularly Kiwi doctors who had previously left New Zealand.
“Yes we’d love to have them back, but we aren’t seeing anything from the employer or the Government to make that an attractive proposition.”
“They may well want to come home, but they’ll be coming home to significant pay cuts and a significant workload because of vacancies all across the country.”
