Mobilizing national efforts to improve health workforce planning

Reprinted from Vol. 14, No. 3 — March 2014, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada
The Royal College is mobilizing national efforts to improve health workforce planning and address the growing employment challenges facing Canadian physicians.

This work took a considerable step forward at the first National Physician Employment Summit, which was hosted by the Royal College in Ottawa, Ont., from February 18-19, 2014. The summit, a pan-Canadian meeting of more than 100 attendees, included representatives from government and all of Canada’s major medical organizations, all of whom are committed to ongoing efforts to help highly-trained doctors find work and meet patient needs.

“There are no quick fixes for this complex problem,” said Danielle Fréchette, MPA, executive director of the Royal College’s Office of Health Systems Innovation and External Relations. “This summit brought together major stakeholders to float ideas, share learning and begin to discuss next steps for lasting, sustainable solutions.”

First step in a thoughtful approach

Last fall, the Royal College’s highly-anticipated study, Too many, too few doctors? What’s really behind Canada’s unemployed specialists?, found that 16 per cent of new specialist and subspecialist physicians reportedly couldn’t find work, and 31 per cent pursued further training to become more employable.

The root causes of this are multi-faceted, including limitations to our existing planning models, data on population needs, and learning environments that reflect patient needs. Positively, multiple groups across Canada are conducting research and analysis on this issue.

Figuring out what we know and what we don’t know

The national summit produced three practical steps that will guide the way forward:

1. Attendees strongly support the current work of the Physician Resource Planning Task Force (PRPTF), supported by the F/P/T Committee on Health Workforce, which brings key stakeholders from across medicine, academia, government, and learner organizations together to determine the right number, mix and distribution of physicians to meet societal needs. Participants will continue to advocate for sustainable funding to continue and expand this work.
2. The Royal College was seen as the place to collect and coordinate all relevant information regarding specialty-specific data on this issue, and was elected by meeting participants to guide and help inform the PRPTF’s work. Initially, our focus will be on disciplines experiencing the most employment challenges. The National Specialty Societies and Royal College specialty committees will have a strong and active role in developing the information that will support further discussions and decision-making.
3. The Royal College agreed to host a follow-up event this fall to exchange best practices and share progress reports. This will include a draft action plan to streamline and coordinate efforts to address physician unemployment and underemployment across Canada.

Read the entire joint statement by clicking here.

Strong health workforce planning is about meeting patients’ needs

In an era of lengthy wait times and budget limitations, our health system needs to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of all health professionals. Together with the national specialty societies and the Royal College’s specialty committees, we must work to collect more information to inform and shape workforce planning to help prevent future “boom-bust” employment cycles.

“Ultimately, we want to ensure that Canada always has the right number of physicians practising in the right areas, supported by the necessary health care resources to meet patient needs,” said Ms. Fréchette. “We will work with all stakeholders in the years to come to help achieve a much-needed, sustainable, pan-Canadian health workforce plan.”