The View, from the desk of Interim CEO Marga Cugnet – December
Physician recruitment is one of the most difficult subjects in health care in Saskatchewan today.
In spite of the fact that health regions, local citizen/municipal committees and the provincial Saskdocs recruitment agency are all working hard to find more doctors, there are still 130 vacancies all around the province.
The CBC found 22 communities affected by doctor shortage in a survey it conducted this summer. We are not the only Health Region struggling.
Recruitment is not the only solution. Retention is just as important. In Sun Country Health Region, we recruited 26 physicians to the Region between 2008-11. Only eight of those recruited are still active in the Region.
We need to change that trend. We need to attract doctors, and then keep them.
We need to ensure that doctors will have the kind of practice that allows them to enjoy a life outside the office; a manageable patient workload, sufficient remuneration, and professional colleagues available when they need them.
Research into rural recruitment in Canada tells us this is what young doctors want. To keep them, this is what we need to provide. The old-fashioned doctor working solo to serve a community 24 hours a day is no longer possible.
That change does not always coincide with what the rural communities want.
While residents of the Region want doctors close at hand for medical treatment, many of their elected councils also think of access to doctors and emergency departments as part of an economic development plan. They know it’s harder to attract residents and business to a community once the school closes and/or the doctor leaves.
Unfortunately, it hasn’t been possible here for many years in many communities. For good reasons. The World Health Organization (WHO) says there is a worldwide shortage of physicians, with more than 50 countries experiencing a severe shortage. In 2006 (the latest information available), Canada had 2.1 practising physicians per 1,000 people, compared to the average (in economically developed countries) of 3.1.
The provincial government is working with us. It just announced several new programs. Up to $120,000 in student loans for new physicians and $20,000 in student loans for new nurses and nurse practitioners will be forgiven for those agreeing to practice for five years in rural and remote communities. The government also announced a pool of 20 doctors will be available on a temporary basis (as locums) to provide relief for existing rural doctors.
This is helpful for our retention plan and makes it possible for doctors to take vacations, or professional upgrading, and for us to avoid temporary closures at our emergency departments.
Insanity is defined as doing the same old thing and expecting different results. We need to change our strategies to achieve better and different results.