Migrant doctors Police to be paid for shortnotice roster changes want a chance
WELLINGTON: Migrant doctors already in the country worry they will be overlooked as Health New Zealand tries to attract more international doctors.
About 80 doctors in New Zealand who graduated overseas say they cannot get the hospital internships they need to be fully fledged practitioners here.
Meanwhile, workforce shortages continue.
Isha graduated from a medical school in China in 2012. A New Zealand citizen, she has been here since 2015 and passed the registration exam two years later.
The five years which followed have been heartbreaking for her.
She said she had not been able to get a firstyear supervised role because of a lack of positions and now her registration had expired.
‘‘ . . . not even a single day has gone by without me not thinking where I am professionally.
‘‘My everyday job involves working with the doctors . . . knowing that I could be that, I could be this, but I’m never even given an opportunity,’’ she said.
Dr John Egbuji, who graduated from the Philippines, managed to get a supervised position four months after passing the exam. But that was unusual, he said.
There should not be so many hoops to jump through, especially when candidates could prove their experience, he said.
‘‘There’s also an English requirement so in addition to passing the theoretical exam, which I should add is in English, you actually have to sit a separate English examination regardless of what you’ve done prior.
‘‘Prior to sitting the exam I had lived in New Zealand, I had taught at Auckland Medical School and at Otago Medical School. I actually came into New Zealand having sat that English exam prior, but the exam is only valid for two years, so I ended up having to sit the exam again, even though I’d been teaching medical students in English.’’
It was not uncommon for migrant doctors to teach at New Zealand medical schools, only to be overlooked for supervised roles in favour of their students.
Recently, Health Minister Andrew Little announced a suite of initiatives aimed at bringing in more international doctors.
However, Middle Eastern, Latin American and African Advisory Group cofounder Dr Carolyn Providence said there was concern new arrivals would leapfrog those already here.
Health New Zealand said it understood the challenges doctors from noncomparable health systems faced and would pilot two programmes to support them.
One had 10 places, but those who completed it would still need to get a supervised position.
The other, also limited to 10, would target people who wanted to specialise in general practice.
It was still working on the details of the schemes. — RNZ
AUCKLAND: New Zealand police officers hit with short notice changes to their work rosters are now receiving a $100 compensation bonus as part of their new pay deal.
The compensation for short notice shift changes was a win for the New Zealand Police Association as part of its pay negotiations.
It also won two pay hikes of more than $3000 for both 2021 and 2022, plus a higher rate for night shifts.
The $100 bonus applies when an officer’s roster is changed within 14 days of the shift starting and came into effect last month.
A further $50 payment applies for subsequent changes in the same twoweek period, not including voluntary shift changes.
Association president Chris Cahill said the collective agreement already had a provision that except in cases of emergency, police should not change someone’s roster without giving them 14 days’ notice.
‘‘The problem was there was absolutely no penalty involved in that,’’ Mr Cahill said.
‘‘So police ignored it. To the level that it became incredibly frustrating for staff to organise their lives and at the last minute be told, now we need you to work this roster.’’
That led to them having to change childcare arrangements and cancel family engagements, he said.
‘‘And it wasn’t actually the emergency situations that were annoying, it was the bad planning by police.
‘‘Getting told, you know, the week before Easter that we require you to work Easter.
And as we all know, Easter has been around for a few years now.’’
As a result, the association proposed a penalty to give management the incentive to better organise rostering.
The $100 payment is available for constables through to senior sergeants, and for the equivalent levels of employee among police civilians.
Mr Cahill said the association had been surprised how many police staff were enduring roster changes as a result of having to attend court at short notice.
‘‘And, in hindsight, this shouldn’t be a surprise because we have said for many, many years, that the court needs to tidy up their act on how they manage court.
‘‘This has been something that we’ve spoken about on behalf of victims for years.’’
Mr Cahill said he hoped the new system might spur a conversation between police and the Ministry of Justice about better aligning their processes.
Comment has been sought from police on the financial impact of the new payment scheme. —