Post by wbmania72 on Aug 22, 2013 13:04:08 GMT 7
the article is bit old but the drama is still valid maybe even worse.
HUNDREDS of trainee doctors have not been re-hired by Queensland Health, sparking fears the medicos will be left "driving taxis and washing windscreens" while patients languish on waiting lists.
Up to 500 doctors in their final years of training at state tertiary hospitals were recently sent emails telling them "you have not been selected for a position with Queensland Health in 2013".
The news has outraged doctors' groups and comes at a time when patients are waiting up to five years to be seen by specialists before they even have surgery.
Australian Medical Association Queensland president Alex Markwell said postgraduate doctors in their second, third and fourth years were the workhorses of public hospitals.
"We've never seen anything like it in Queensland. We've got doctors and they are being told to go away," she said. "Doctors need training and do not graduate 'ready to use'."
She said the State Government had given hospital and health boards their budgets and a directive on how many people they could hire.
Queensland Health deputy director-general Michael Cleary said it was too soon to determine how many doctors would not receive positions in Queensland Health, but he doubted it would be 500.
Professor Cleary said it was expected more jobs would be offered later in the year because doctors usually applied for more than one position, leaving a vacancy for another.
He said Queensland Health had offered jobs to 4400 doctors next year, more than in previous years.
Australian Medical Association president Steve Hambleton said Australia was still recruiting large numbers of overseas-trained doctors to fill junior medical officer positions.
In 2011-12, 1260 applications for 457 Class visas were granted by the Department of Immigration for junior medical officer positions.
"You're going to have (locally trained) doctors driving taxis and washing windscreens," Dr Hambleton said.
In the meantime, patients are left waiting for specialist treatment. Bundaberg retiree Carmel Daniel, 67, has waited two years for a specialist doctor to operate on her twisted, broken arm.
A letter from the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital recently advised her that the specialist doctor needed to treat her was on holidays for three months, and was booked up to almost Christmas.
Data provided to The Sunday Mail under Right to Information laws showed almost 200,000 were waiting to see a specialist in 2010.
HUNDREDS of trainee doctors have not been re-hired by Queensland Health, sparking fears the medicos will be left "driving taxis and washing windscreens" while patients languish on waiting lists.
Up to 500 doctors in their final years of training at state tertiary hospitals were recently sent emails telling them "you have not been selected for a position with Queensland Health in 2013".
The news has outraged doctors' groups and comes at a time when patients are waiting up to five years to be seen by specialists before they even have surgery.
Australian Medical Association Queensland president Alex Markwell said postgraduate doctors in their second, third and fourth years were the workhorses of public hospitals.
"We've never seen anything like it in Queensland. We've got doctors and they are being told to go away," she said. "Doctors need training and do not graduate 'ready to use'."
She said the State Government had given hospital and health boards their budgets and a directive on how many people they could hire.
Queensland Health deputy director-general Michael Cleary said it was too soon to determine how many doctors would not receive positions in Queensland Health, but he doubted it would be 500.
Professor Cleary said it was expected more jobs would be offered later in the year because doctors usually applied for more than one position, leaving a vacancy for another.
He said Queensland Health had offered jobs to 4400 doctors next year, more than in previous years.
Australian Medical Association president Steve Hambleton said Australia was still recruiting large numbers of overseas-trained doctors to fill junior medical officer positions.
In 2011-12, 1260 applications for 457 Class visas were granted by the Department of Immigration for junior medical officer positions.
"You're going to have (locally trained) doctors driving taxis and washing windscreens," Dr Hambleton said.
In the meantime, patients are left waiting for specialist treatment. Bundaberg retiree Carmel Daniel, 67, has waited two years for a specialist doctor to operate on her twisted, broken arm.
A letter from the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital recently advised her that the specialist doctor needed to treat her was on holidays for three months, and was booked up to almost Christmas.
Data provided to The Sunday Mail under Right to Information laws showed almost 200,000 were waiting to see a specialist in 2010.
