A taskforce is planning for the future of NZ health care, writes Des Gorman
There's never been a more exciting time to become part of our rapidly changing health sector.
New Zealand offers some of the best training in the world, and if you think that only includes doctors and nurses, take another look. Some of the innovative roles that will shape the future of our health workforce are being developed.
One hundred years ago, a health career would have meant you were probably a doctor or a nurse.
Over the past 50 years the sector has evolved to include careers as diverse as phlebotomists, cyto technicians, nurse practitioners and a range of specialists who run the technology we've come to rely upon.
We have specialists within specialisations and understand more about our health than ever before.
We have an aging population who have a greater expectation of health and who are more active for their years than any previous generation.
What technologies will we be training future health specialists for? How will our health system look and how will the workforce change?
There is increasing pressure on New Zealand health services and demand for services will continue to increase.
This means we have a tremendous opportunity to plan for the future of our health and disability workforce.
This opportunity was the catalyst for the creation of Health Workforce NZ. We've brought together people to provide a single, co-ordinated response to improve our ability to recruit and retain our health workforce in the face of extraordinary challenges.
We're fortunate to have dedicated and talented people throughout our workforce; we want them to be part of the changing face of our health sector and want to keep pace with innovation and create the best career opportunities for our people.
As we start to piece together what some aspects of our future health service might look like, Health Workforce NZ is developing projects which include an enhanced training experience for resident medical officers (junior doctors) that incorporates more structured career guidance, training and personal support, (including one-on-one career guidance) along with extended roles for nurses and pharmacists and a new range of practice assistants and technicians.
We're also looking at how we encourage health graduates into specialties where workforce numbers are low.
A voluntary bonding scheme has been launched, which will help doctors, nurses and midwives stay here while benefiting through student loan debt write-offs or cash incentives over three to five years.
There are other diverse work programmes Health Workforce NZ plans to undertake, including initiatives to develop our community-based and elective surgery workforce, as well as special attention to high-need services such as rural, maternity and mental health.
More health care is taking place outside hospitals and returning to the community and more people are choosing to be cared for in their homes. We have already identified this will lead to increased demand for doctors and health care workers in primary care in rural and metropolitan areas.
We will be developing ways to encourage resident medical officers and other health professionals to explore opportunities in primary care and also how pharmacists and other community-based health care workers can add value to how people will be looked after in their communities.
The physician assistants pilot, which will start in the next couple of months, is an opportunity to explore how we can expand the health workforce.
A physician assistant works in the health care team along with doctors and nurses. They are trained alongside doctors but have a shorter training period and work under the supervision of a doctor.
It is not a role that currently exists in New Zealand but overseas it is an attractive job for those who might not otherwise consider a health care role.
New Zealanders are well known for their innovation: we're using that to look at ways of improving health outcomes by ensuring we have a well-supported health workforce.
We want to have the right mix of quality staff who have the best training opportunities and know that by using their skills here they're making a valued contribution.
Whether you're currently in training or just starting to consider a health career, we'd like to show you the possibilities are endless.
Not all careers in health require a medical degree; you can train to become a medic, go into public health, become a physiotherapist, aged care worker, psychologist and can transition into a different role if your interests change. One of the benefits of working in the health sector is the variety of roles on offer, along with flexibility in where and how you work.
There are opportunities all over New Zealand in hospital and primary care settings, and career development is supported throughout your career.
You may have started your working life in a completely different sector, have skills that are transferable, and you may be looking to make a change.
Or you might be nursing and considering postgraduate training to become a nurse practitioner, midwife, doctor or another specialist role.
Technological advances may see more surgical procedures done at day surgeries rather than in hospitals and we will need to recruit and train people to work in these environments.
There is a diverse range of workforce requirements. In rural communities alone we need people who can provide services from trauma management through to childbirth, people in public health to plan for the needs of our population and we need to increase the number of caregivers in aged care and mental health.
With all these issues to consider it is vital we have national co-ordination of our health workforce planning. The Health Workforce NZ, DHBNZ and your local District Health Board websites are filled with information.
While you're there, look at some of the stories about people who are shaping our health workforce.
Visit www.healthworkforce.org.nz; www.healthcareers.org.nz.
* Des Gorman is the Chair of Health Workforce NZ.
ON TASK
The Government has established Health Workforce New Zealand (the Clinical Training Agency Board) to address a range of health workforce development issues: some that already exist and others that are forecast for the future. Its aim is to provide a single, co-ordinated response to improving our ability to train, recruit and retain our health workforce. The ultimate goal is to have the right health workforce personnel with the best skill-sets working in the right places.
