Quarter of senior DHB doctors want out
Almost a quarter of senior doctors employed by district health boards intend to leave medicine or move to private practice in the next five years, a new study has found.
The study, carried out by Association of Salaried Medical Specialists analyst Dr Charlotte Chambers, found feelings of disillusionment, exhaustion and low morale were driving senior doctors to consider leaving New Zealand’s public hospitals much earlier than they would otherwise.
Of the 2281 senior doctors who responded, 23.9 per cent of them said they were unlikely or extremely unlikely to continue with some form of district health board-based employment in the next five years.
Of respondents aged 55 or over, 44.7 per cent said they were unlikely to remain with a DHB with 38.1 per cent saying they intended to leave medicine entirely. Of those under 55, only 4.1 per cent planned to leave the profession.
More than half of all respondents said they were dissatisfied with the level of recognition they received.
Age was the top reason for not wishing to continue working with DHBs, cited by 217 senior doctors.
This was followed by disillusionment with DHB management and the direction of the New Zealand public health system — 82 doctors;
Exhaustion, burnout and pressure of work — 74 doctors;
Low morale, poor job satisfaction and feeling unable to institute change — 70 doctors;
Wanting more time for leisure or other interests — 51 doctors.
Chambers said the value of the study was that it identified the reasons doctors were leaving and what might encourage them to stay.
The top five changes which could cause doctors to rethink were the provision of flexible working hours or part-time work, better management culture and less bureaucracy, better resourcing and staff levels, reduced on-call, shift work and after hours work, and more respect and greater professional freedom.