Tony Ryall MP
National Party Health Spokesman

1 June 2007

Spending on hospital locums doubles in 6 years

Reporters Note: Regional Breakdowns Attached.

“Labour is spending a record amount on locum doctors to fill the huge gaps that are emerging in the health workforce,” says National Party Health spokesman Tony Ryall

“You can’t run a health system on temporary staff. Yet the Government is relying more and more on locum doctors. This is a huge problem in regional New Zealand and a problem for Wellington too.”

Mr Ryall is commenting as the public rallies in Thames over a crisis in the local health workforce, where there is a critical shortage of junior hospital doctors.

"Junior doctor vacancies are only going to get worse. Already significant vacancies exist in greater Auckland which are putting real pressure on other medical staff and are likely to lead to changes in the way patients receive care."

He says new figures show a ballooning use of locum doctors by district health boards throughout the country.

In the 2001/02 year district health boards spent $46 million on locum doctors. That figure rose to $75 million in 2005/06, and is estimated to soar past the $100 million mark this financial year.

“That is a more than 100% increase in six years. Pete Hodgson must know he simply can’t continue to plug the holes with temporary staff,” says Mr Ryall.

“Constant doctor changes are not good for quality or continuity of care.

“The fact is that hospitals can’t recruit junior doctors and others because the whole hospital environment is breaking down.

“There is far too much bureaucracy and the senior doctors are out of the loop. We need to involve hospital doctors much more closely in the running of services, which would significantly improve morale.”

The increasing use of locum doctors also concerns experts like Auckland DHB’s director of clinical training, Dr Stephen Child, who was quoted earlier this month as saying ‘"If you're in hospital on Tuesday night, one locum sees you, and then on Wednesday night a different locum sees you....I can be working with five or six or seven different doctors in a two-week period now. How am I supposed to supervise them and also how am I supposed to teach them?’

ENDS

Attached: Outsourced Medical Personnel Costs – 1 page.
http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/0706/locumspend.pdf

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