Britain's National Health Service (NHS) has launched an ambitious physician-recruiting campaign in 11 countries, including Canada. One of the main goals is to find enough FPs to overcome a serious shortage in inner-city areas, but specialists, particularly in the fields of cancer treatment and cardiac surgery, are also in demand. The United Kingdom has been experiencing a shortage of FPs, partly because many doctors who trained in India and arrived in Britain in the 1960s and '70s are now retiring. The new campaign follows a government election promise to provide 10 000 new physicians by the year 2005.
Helen Ziegler of Helen Ziegler and Associates, a company that recruits Canadian physicians to work overseas, says Canada probably doesn't have to worry about the British campaign because the extremely high cost of living in the UK will scare off most potential recruits. However, she says some doctors originally from England may be interested in retiring in the UK and practising part time. The NHS salaries range from about $106 000 to $140 000.
“We cannot speculate on how Canadians will respond to the recruitment,” says Laura Markle, public affairs officer at the British High Commission in Ottawa. “However, it is a great opportunity for doctors to have the chance to live and work in the UK.”
In New Zealand, the campaign has the country's medical association worried. Dr. John Adams, chair of the New Zealand Medical Association, calls the recruiting drive “extremely unfortunate. We already have considerable workforce difficulties in New Zealand, and we do not want to lose any more of our doctors.” The association rejected an NHS advertisement submitted to its journal. (CMAJ accepted the ad.)
Adams says New Zealand cannot compete with Britain's FP salaries, even when the higher cost of living is factored in. “Dollar for dollar, New Zealand's salaries are well below what is being offered — our salaries are getting so far behind the rest of the world. My guess is that there will be some interest across the board.”
A conference of Commonwealth health ministers will be held in New Zealand in November. The international recruiting issue will be raised, and protocols to prevent physician poaching may be discussed.