Health boards told to 'think laterally' to hold doctors

11.45am

Health boards need to offer bonuses and housing packages to attract or retain doctors in an increasingly competitive global market, the New Zealand Medical Association (NZMA) says.

NZMA chairwoman Tricia Briscoe said New Zealand could not compete with the sort of money Australian hospitals were offering to combat chronic understaffing.

Yesterday, it was revealed that New Zealand doctors were being lured across the Tasman with free airfares, accommodation and A$120 ($138) an hour, to cover shifts at regional public hospital emergency rooms.

"These are big monies that Australia is being forced to offer and they're not monies that we can afford in New Zealand," Dr Briscoe told National Radio this morning.

"This is not a new problem but it's getting worse and this is a significant change."

Locums in New Zealand would get close to half that hourly rate, she said.

"There are practices, particularly rural practices, that are desperate to get locums."

Many young New Zealand-trained doctors were heading straight overseas and even experienced doctors were leaving the country.

Another concern was that foreign doctors, on whom New Zealand relied, would choose Australia over New Zealand in future.

"We need to think laterally, to offer a price that is within cooee [of global salaries] but we also need to play up the fact that New Zealand is a great place to live and a great place to come and visit.

"We need to look at innovative packages where we can offer accommodation and bonuses to reward young doctors who choose to stay in New Zealand, money that will help them pay off their very significant loans....

"DHBs need to look at using the monies that they have in innovative ways in providing things like free accommodation."

Furthermore, the Government needed to accelerate the roll-out of increased subsidies it has already provided to some areas in primary health care, she said.

"We need to get that out to the whole of New Zealand as quickly as we can....

"There isn't going to be a short term answer -- but we need to work as quickly as we can."

- NZPA