Science and Health
New Zealand ranked lowest in number of medical specialists
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-02-22 10:40
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WELLINGTON: A latest survey showed that New Zealand has been ranked as having the lowest number of medical specialists per patient in the developed world, according to the Radio New Zealand Monday.
The survey conducted by the Organization for Economic Co- operation and Development (OECD) puts New Zealand at the bottom of a table of 28 nations, having 0.8 senior doctors per 1,000 patients.
Greece topped the table in the OECD survey, with 3.4 specialists per 1,000 patients. The OECD average was 1.8.
"Underpinning all of it is a lack of strategic direction and planning for the sort of senior doctor workforce we need in our public hospitals, and we've not seen the planning for that," Radio New Zealand quoted him as saying.
The general secretary of the Resident Doctors Association, Deborah Powell, said 40 percent of junior doctors who graduated in 1999 have left New Zealand to work overseas.
New Zealand Health Minister Tony Ryall said the figures, based on 2007 data, were worrying.
"Everyone is concerned by the workforce crisis that the government has inherited. It's a real challenge to keep the public health service going when we have these staffing problems, but we are dealing with them," he told Radio New Zealand.
The Government had introduced a voluntary bonding scheme for health professionals and was focusing on improving moral and engaging doctors in running the service.
OECD, an organization that provides economic and social data, surveyed 28 countries using 2007 information or latest date available for the report.
