Quote:
|
Originally Posted by crocos
Retaining talent is happening - NZ has a remarkably low turn-over. However recruiting quality people takes time - not helped by NZ's very narrow definition of acceptable medical staff when recruiting from overseas. EG: I know an experienced podiatric (feet/ankle etc) surgeon that - because he was trained, and practiced, in Iran and had moved to NZ. Was not allowed to practice without basically two additional years "training". He ended up moving to Aussie as they recognized his qualifications.
Don't then get me started on the hoops required by Immigration NZ.
And of course training new medical staff is a multi-year thing that's not easy to burst capacity for.
Expanding ICUs and hospital capacity -
The physical equipment side is easy. The additional rooms/buildings is semi-easy. However capacity is more defined by the staffing, and that's where we've got the shortage.
"Almost a year" - or even if we say 18 months to go back to March last year - is not necessarily an adequate timeframe.
|
Thanks for the comments. I admit that my views are based on what I read/see in the media and a few slices from the Auckland DHB where my family works.
That podiatric example is similar to what my FIL had to do if we wanted to practice in NZ from the Middle East. Some of the material he was asked to study (2 years extra training) was material that he lectured on in London - but that doesn't count. He used to run A&E practices in Iraq before coming to NZ, and now he works in the DHB because of hoops. That was 20-30 years ago and I'm appalled that is still the case.
I actually didn't know that our turnover was low - I'm now curious as to why and how they measure it. I'll have a read.
I still think that my point remains though that our overall planning in the last 12-18 months has big gaps. NZ is/was a very desirable place to live and we couldn't facilitate better recruitment, immigration paths, and general prep work. They had a clear case/opportunity for change - and I feel they squandered it.