Specialists' $2500 a day 'unique' to remote Coast

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Medical specialists can typically earn up to $2000 a day by filling gaps in many parts of the health services, but the West Coast's significantly higher rates are unique, a recruiter says.

The Herald reported yesterday that despite its financial difficulties, the isolated West Coast District Health Board finds it sometimes has to offer $2500 a day to attract locum surgeons.

A Queenstown-based medical recruiting firm was quoted as saying the typical rate for locum specialists was around $1000 a day.

This drew a response from two other recruiting firms which said locum specialist rates in their experience were typically $1500 to $2000 a day.

Locums command a premium because they are used to cope with shortages; however, $2500 a day would equate to $650,000 a year for a five-day week, a rate far higher than the $195,441 base salary paid to senior doctors on the top step of the specialists' national collective agreement.

Sean Hill, director of Wellington-based Samos Consulting, said specialists paid $1500 to $2000 a day would normally be expected to be on call for additional duties after hours. Their employers would usually pay for the locum's travel and accommodation.

Locum placements could be brief, to cover for staff illness, or for a few weeks to cover an absence through annual leave, or in some cases could be a series of placements adding up to three months or longer if a health provider was struggling to recruit permanent staff.

Mr Hill said he had not heard of a higher rate than $2500 a day. "The West Coast is a difficult place to recruit to because of its isolation."