uk doctors working in new aealand

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Working in New Zealand
Go here for info on Living in New Zealand

New Zealand offers the opportunity to work in a modern health system whilst still having access to an enviable quality of life. The government has devolved responsibility for Health care delivery to District Health Boards. These Boards deliver funding to GPs and Hospitals. In common with other "Western" style health services the NZ experience has been one of battles with underfunding, constant management change and a flirtation with "market" driven healthcare. Whilst the advent of the Health Boards has stabilised things a little there remain issues of funding and staff recruitment and retention. However, "at the coal face" new Zealand remains a pleasant place to work, aided by the knowledge of the great lifestyle that awaits.

The principle hurdle is that of Medical Registration and to help with this we have prepared a guide to the
Medical Council of New Zealand Web site.

Finding a Job

The Southern Doctor is obviously the first place you will start. However you may already have a good idea of where you want to work and so you may wish to approach the DHB directly.
A list of the District Health Boards their websites and postal addresses is here.

Other useful sites

The terms and conditions offered to applicants from outside NZ are sometimes not as advantageous as those established for local candidates. Information and advice can be found on the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists site which has an excellent page on
working in NZ. This also includes a link to a league table of salary scales. Junior doctors may be interested in the Resident Doctors Association site.

Medical Indemnity

The medico-legal environment is becoming more hostile to doctors, in a similar fashion to that in the UK and Australia. A no fault compensation scheme administered by the Accident Compensation Corporation operates in NZ which means that you are unlikely to be "sued" as such.

However there remain multiple avenues for a patient complaint.

ACC: A patient can claim compensation from the ACC on grounds of Medical Misadventure or Medical Error. Medical Misadventure does not imply that the standard of care was necessarily below par, but rather that the patient suffered a rare, severe complication of treatment and is compensated for such. A claim for Medical Misadventure does however necessitate you writing reports and still feels rather adversarial when you are on the receiving end. The assessing committee of the ACC can make a finding of Medical Error when it feels the nature of the care was below an acceptable standard. Findings of Medical Error are passed on to the NZ Medical Council.

Medical Council of NZ: The registration body of NZ doctors receives complaints which it then deliberates on prior to deciding to proceed to a formal hearing. These sorts of compaints can include those relating to clinical outcomes or professional behaviour.

Health and Disability Commissioner: A consumer advocate in the field of health, the Health and Disability Commissioner is often included in the distribution lists of a complainant.

New Zealand Parliament: The Health Select Committe has the brief of addressing health issues deemed of interest to Parliament, and can choose to investigate the behaviour of individual doctors (usually in a high profile case)