An appropriately funded, well distributed, resilient and well supported specialist workforce is a priority goal for us and the patient communities of specialists. Some patients face difficulties accessing specialist care and we advocate for targeted Government strategies to improve specialist workforce supply.
We encourage greater Government investment in specialist training placements, the rural and remote specialist workforce and rural health funding, and advocate for governments across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand to continuously consult us, specialists and their patients on matters impacting the specialist workforce and its capacity to deliver patient care.
We also advocate for strategies to improve specialist retention within our healthcare system. Our core priorities in this space are working with Government to improve specialist access to professional development, staffing arrangements for training support, and working conditions that support specialist wellbeing – as part of the member led Flexible Training Policy and the Member Health and Wellbeing Strategy. We also seek to improve the distribution of specialists to our outback communities, through our Rural, Regional and Remote Physician Strategy.
Retention of the specialist workforce demands appropriate levels of investment in staffing and infrastructure to meet current and future healthcare demands, including multidisciplinary sub-acute, community and workplace-based health services, ambulatory care and rehabilitation services, and appropriately indexed services.
We specifically advocate for a bolstered Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander specialist workforce and support cultural safety in specialist workforce via our Medical Specialist Access Framework. We also advocate that investment in the specialist public health workforce is urgently needed for pandemic management and other public health emergencies, such as climate related diseases acknowledging the skills of this workforce in crisis situations per our Public Health Physicians Position.
Workforce advocacy is a key focus of our work in Aotearoa New Zealand. We have enhanced external relationships including with the Minister of Health, Te Whatu Ora Data Analytics, Ministry of Health Workforce Policy team and continue to collaborate with other medical Colleges and organisations on workforce issues.
Our Office of the Dean works closely on workforce issues with Policy & Advocacy, and supports, engages and represents our physician membership base and partnerships internationally. The Dean helps to ensure that we have the relevant infrastructure, systems, and processes in place to deliver value to current and future physicians. As part of performing these functions, the Office of the Dean analyses workforce data to inform evidence informed workforce resource discussions, allocation, policies, programs and health services.