Workforce Australia
February 25, 2013
WORKFORCE Australia has
launched a discussion paper on the
National Medical Training Advisory
Network, a move which it says is
the first step towards an important
initiative to create a coordinated
medical training system for
Australia.
It is hoped that when complete,
the coordinated system will result
in a medical workforce that
“matches the community’s needs
for health services”.
“Despite major efforts in training
and graduating more doctors, there
are many Australians living in rural,
remote and some metropolitan
areas experiencing difficulty seeing
a doctor when they need to,” said
Mark Cormack, Chief Executive
Officer, Health Workforce Australia.
“Looking at the training of doctors
as a whole – from university right
through to specialists - is the key to
finding a solution to this problem,”
he added.
According to Cormack the
National Medical Training Advisory
Network is one of a series of
actions to result from the Health
Workforce 2025 report that
provided a national overview of the
medical workforce out to 2025.
“The Health Workforce 2025
report identified major, long-term
challenges in delivering a workforce
that enables all Australians to get
safe, quality health services when
and where they need them,” he said.
“What the data revealed is a
problem with alignment – the
number and type of doctors we are
producing is not matching up with
the healthcare requirements of
communities.
It also showed there are not
enough Australia-trained doctors
taking jobs in some communities,
and too many seeking work in others.
“The National Medical Training
Advisory Network will be the
mechanism for planning a more
balanced supply and demand scenario.
“We need to lift our focus beyond
the short term and work collectively
to create a sustainable health
workforce that meets the healthcare
needs of all Australians,” he added.
The discussion paper is available
from the Health Workforce
Australia website at
www.hwaconnect.net.au/NMTAN.
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