Foreign-trained medics badly treated, says report

The Medical Council has been hit with high-level criticism of the "unreasonable" way it treats some foreign-trained doctors.

The Health Ministry-appointed Senior Medical Officers Commission considers foreign-trained doctors to be a mainstay of the health system, even though New Zealand aspires to become more self-sufficient.

This will not be until at least the 2020s because, despite increases in the number of medical undergraduates, it takes up to 15 years to train a specialist.

The commission arose out of a bitter industrial dispute between the senior doctors' union and the district health boards in which the union asserted members were being "pulled" to Australia and elsewhere by higher pay and "pushed" out of New Zealand by a managerial health system that did not value them.

The commission, led by former Government Statistician Len Cook, found specialists' pay was around 30 to 35 per cent higher in Australia than in New Zealand, largely because Australia is a wealthier country.

The report confirms that New Zealand's "international medical graduates" mainly come from Britain, the United States and South Africa, with smaller numbers from continental Europe, Asia and elsewhere.

An increasing number of senior medical officers, 40 per cent nationally last year and 87 per cent at Gisborne's DHB, started their medical careers overseas. In the next tier of doctors, "medical officers", the proportion is even higher: 61 per cent nationally.

Senior doctors told the commission the registration process for foreign-trained doctors dissuaded some because it was too complex, too slow and they were treated discourteously.

"New Zealand's processes need to be welcoming, easy to navigate, fair and transparent, with applications processed speedily. Other countries are doing this; if we do not, we will lose out."

The commission heard that assessments of foreign-trained specialists by some medical colleges were "influenced by self-interest" of doctors in lucrative private-sector markets.

Onerous supervision requirements were raised, including for "very high cost" South African locums at West Coast DHB on a five-week rotation who first had to do two weeks under supervision at another health board. This seemed "unreasonable".

Council chief executive Philip Pigou said supervision for the West Coast anaesthetists was now one week.

Overseas Doctors Association president Dr Jamal Ahmed said nearly 350 foreign-trained doctors were doing low-paid jobs in New Zealand because they could not gain registration. The Government should allow them to resume medical practice under supervision or provide a bridging programme.

DOCTORS' REPORT

* Public hospital specialists paid 30-35 per cent more in Australia, mainly because Australia is a richer country.
* 10 per cent vacancy rate for specialists' jobs at district health boards.
* Retention of new specialists deteriorating.
* Foreign-trained doctors make crucial contribution, must be valued.
* Registration process for foreign-trained doctors needs "customer-focused" rewrite.
* Fewer locums and more permanent doctors should be employed.