Jobs & Money Detail
Healthcare professionals wanted in Otago
Andrew Collier finds out about the Otago healthcare system and the current shortage of healthcare professionals
Debbie Fahey has been working as a recruitment advisor for Healthdownsouth for 13 years, so in that time it would be fair to say that she has seen some changes.
As well as the introduction of Primary Health Organisations (PHOs) to bring together nurses, GP's and other professionals to the community, there have been several other changes both locally and nationally.
"A key change [in NZ healthcare] has been the increased focus on integrated care between hospital and primary care health services, in an effort to improve the continuum of care," Fahey says. "For example, we've seen the introduction of a number of new IT platforms within our health boards, which enable the sharing of relevant health information between health-care providers in the hospital and out in the community. Ranging from laboratory test results, digital radiology images, discharge summaries, or a child's full immunisation history, this improved access to health information is enabling our region's health professionals to work more closely together and improve care for patients."
Some of the changes have had a positive affect on the Otago health system as a whole.
"Improved staff conditions- enhanced support for staff education and professional development – initiatives such as a dedicated Practice Development Team in Southland and the Knowledge Centre in Otago are focused on making education, post-graduate study and ongoing education more accessible and well supported for our staff. Our District Health Boards (DHBs) also offer enhanced career pathways."
In terms of the changes directed at the patients, there have also been some changes for the better. "Mental health services have had significant investment and increased staffing and now better meet the needs of our consumers and their families. Initiatives such as the Future Directions Network in Southland are a good example of non-government organisations and DHB-funded services working closely together with consumers and their families to identify service gaps, develop resources and enable more robust mechanisms for consumers and families to have a say in mental health service planning." In addition to this, GP fees have been reduced for all groups as well as special initiatives set up to help harder-to-reach people.
Lastly, Fahey comments on the improvements to the collaboration between the Otago and Southland health boards, who have been working closely to improve health practices. An example of this is the joint buying of clinical products, in order to receive a more substantial discount.
It is a different story with our own NHS, which seems to constantly roll from one controversy to the other.
Michelle Cole, a radiation therapist, who migrated from Manchester to Dunedin, agrees. "I felt underpaid, overwhelmed and under-appreciated in the UK – expectations were high in the department with patient 'efficiency' the only focus. I knew I couldn't get job satisfaction when the system was like a sausage factory, and realised that this was not what I had trained to do. I was missing out on the patient interaction of the job." Michelle emailed her CV to Dunedin Hospital and was eventually offered a job. "Work is great – I'm getting that patient interaction I had been missing.
Although we are a busy department, it's not the same stress and pressure of the UK. It doesn't matter if you need to stop and listen to a patient for 20 minutes, because the patient obviously need that time"
Cole now says that the Kiwi way of life means she has plenty of free time and more money in the bank, due to lower living costs, but the real changes are at work. "I work in a forward-thinking department, where we have state-of-the-art technology that we actually use all of the time to its fullest potential to the benefit of our patients. We're constantly re-evaluating our practice to look for ways of improving our services."
Shortages
Although it is well documented that New Zealand is suffering from a shortage of workers in several areas in the healthcare system, Fahey believes that the situation in Otago could be a lot worse. "Considering the world nursing workforce is short by four million, and other workforce groups are also in demand internationally, in Otago and Southland our shortages are relative to our size."
However, they are always looking out for professionals from all areas of the healthcare spectrum. "We are looking for experienced nurses from all fields, anaesthetists, psychiatric nurses, experienced allied health professionals – particularly radiographers and radiation therapists (MRTs), physiotherapists, speech language therapists and midwives." The Otago region is also on the lookout for doctors specialising in all areas, from registrars to consultants.
The shortage of professionals across the board would surely send the health system to breaking point, but, according to Fahey, the opposite is true.
"We're seeing a significant increase in the quality of services in line with the implementation of a number of initiatives focused on improving patient services and ensuring quality – for example, in Southland we're undertaking a major clinical governance focus and have recently advertised for new positions to support further quality projects across our services."
Also, on a practical level, all of the DHBs have been using staffing ration projects to combat problems from shortages of staff. This project is also linked to the national Quality Improvement Committee.
In order to combat issues raised by an ageing NZ population, DHBs have been increasing the number of and range of services that they offer. This is one of the major factors in the current shortage of professionals, which is at a particularly high level. An example of this is a 10 per cent increase in the amount of elective surgery carried out across the DHBs, which has required more staff. In addition to the ageing population, NZ is currently going through a baby boom, which could account for the lack of midwives and their inclusion on the list.
This is good news for UK health professionals looking to move their career over to NZ. "In our experience, UK trained health professionals in particular are more easily able to be registered in NZ to work than other migrants, they assimilate well into our health services and bring fresh ideas and approaches."
Existing staff benefit from training and support initiatives designed to help them if they wish to further their existing careers.
Fahey concludes: "This combined with the superb outdoors and family focused lifestyle that our region offers, means we offer very attractive opportunities for UK health professionals and their families to move to NZ, whilst also helping to fill our vacancies."
For more information on the ways in which Healthdownsouth can help UK health professionals move to NZ, go to:
www.healthdownsouth.co.nz
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