Transcript Status Report Analysis

Challenges and Opportunities in
Recruitment and Retention
of Rural General Practitioners
16th March 2013
Wesley Henderson
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Recruit and Retain
• 8 partner regions: Canada,
Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Northern
Ireland, Norway, Scotland and Sweden
• Aim “ to identify solutions to
difficulties in recruiting and retaining
high quality personnel to work in the
public sector in remote rural areas of
Northern Europe”
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Catchment Area
(Ireland / Northern Ireland)
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Status Report Compilation
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Geography
Demographics
Health care systems
Education
Challenged Areas in recruitment and retention
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Surveys
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Purpose
Contents
Circulation of Surveys
Challenges
Key Findings
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Semi Structured Interviews
Purpose
Categories
Format of interviews
Key Findings
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Negative Perceptions of
Rural Practice
• city view of country
• teaching hospital view of
medicine
• “learned helplessness”
• isolation of rural practice
• good rural practice impossible
• fear of being “trapped”
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Challenges of Recruiting
for Single Handed Practice
• Bureaucracy in activity reporting
• Work – Life Balance
• Business Management skills
• Spouse/ family factor
• Lack of Investment in Facilities
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Challenges of Recruiting
for Single Handed Practice
• Rural allowances not weighted
highly enough
• Work-life balance
• Diseconomies of scale
• Locum cover for holiday periods
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“VICIOUS CIRCLE”
of Rural Practice
Heavy workload
and responsibility
New graduates
stay in the city
Family & financial
disadvantages
Negative perceptions
of rural practice
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Attractions
of Rural Practice
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environment & lifestyle
variety of practice
independence/responsibility
whole patient/family/
community care
• role in community
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Rural Practitioners
“Extended Generalists”
• wide range of services
• high level of
clinical responsibility
• relative professional isolation
• specific community health role
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Recruitment & Retention
Strategies
• education and training
• financial incentives & rewards
• personal & professional support
• sustainable service models
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Recruitment Facilitators
for Rural Practice
• rural upbringing
• positive undergraduate
rural clinical experiences
• targeted postgraduate training
for rural practice
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Professional and Personal
Support
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better living conditions
supportive work environment
outreach support
career development
professional networks
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Other Support Factors in
Rural Health Care
• specialists’ support role
• partnership not putdown
• Technology to bridge distance
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Australian and
Canadian Initiatives
• Rural and Remote GP Program
- Rural Workforce Agencies
• Retention Payments
• Rural medical family network
• Rural medical school
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Norway
Recruitment strategies:
• Recruit those with Local attachment or who like
aspects of life.
• Additional holidays.
• Action Zone to promote settlement.
• Exchange system between primary and specialist
health care.
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Recruit and Retain
We aim to develop co-ordinated
packages which will support the:
• Training of health care personnel
• Skills development
• Effects of isolation
• Welfare of families
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