Specialists ‘penalised’

Press, 29 July 1976, Page 6

Specialists ‘penalised’

Conditions of service within New Zealand hospitals for full-time salaried senior specialists were no longer competitive with Australia, a member of the North Canterbury Hospital Board, Professor D. W. Beaven, said yesterday. He was commenting on reply from the Minister of Health (Mr Gill) to a report on post-graduate overseas study leave prepared by the board's medical superintendent-in-chief (Dr L. McH. Berry). In his reply Mr Gill had said that while fully recognising the importance of overseas study leave for medical officers, in the present economic situation there was no prospect of additional funds for this in 1977. Professor Beaven said that several times in the last two years when senior staff ap-

pointments had been adver tised there had been no suit able applicants. From a study published in the New Zealand Medical Journal in 1975 it was known that 50 per cent of senior consultants in one speciality of internal medicine with an original higher qualification [no longer worked in this country. This meant that half of those staff were lost to New Zealand. A survey by Professor Beaven of 14 younger New Zealand specialists in internal medicine in June 1975 had indicated that a major barrier to their return to New Zealand was the sense of “specialist isolation” here. The opportunity for travel to scientific meetings and: conferences by comparable! Australian hospital special-1 ists had improved immeasur-; ably in the last two years, he: said. Virtually all Australian hospital specialists and s niori academics bad the oppor-; tunitv to go to such meetings on a yearly basis. On the present allocation d

■ of $38,u00 a New Zealand ■ specialist would get to the - Northern hemisphere once in : every 50 years. , The money for such leave - came from hospital board al- ■ locations and represented less 1 than one per cent o' the total hospital budget, he said. The minister’s reply to the i board’s submission displayed . a “deplorable lack of uncL - of the real factors ’ which might motivate a few I more able New Zealand specialists to return to this 1 country, said Professor Bea- , ven. , Mr W. J. Pryor said he found the Government atti- . tude depressing. The whole J hospital service could be in I jeopardy unless there was some incentive for young. . well-trained staff to return to J New Zealand, he said.

Throughout England and the United States it was the calibre of staff which determined the sort of treatment patients received, and not the standard of the buildings, said Mr W. L. F. Utley.

In the past, board staff had been of an “extremely high calibre” and it was difficult to attract staff if they felt completely isolated in New Zealand.

Dr J. R. Dawson suggested the board forgo something [else to give the specialists [more money, and Mr M. R. Good said the board was not really asking to be allocated [more money but for approval [to spend that already allocaited.

The board will reply to the minister along the lines of Professor Beaven’s submissions.