Biomedical subjects

Paul Gavel

Publications and source records attributed to Paul Gavel.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2002

Planning Australia's hospital workforce.

Growing government support has been evident during the past decade for macro-level workforce planning to ensure that future populations have access to appropriate health care services. Population ageing is impacting on workforce requirements and on workforce supply within Australia and internationally. Changes in financing and the organisation of health services are impacting on the availability of training and on the quality of working life. The age and gender profile and career expectations of young Australians are changing. These factors are all adding to the importance and complexity of workforce planning. This paper draws on data from various sources to describe Australia's hospital workforce, to explore supply-side workforce trends and to discuss some contemporary issues of concern to policy makers and workforce planners. The paper finds that in recent years there has been a 3 per cent decline in the number of full time equivalent staff in public hospitals, while the number in the private hospital workforce has increased by 28 per cent. The paper concludes that, nationally, there are serious limitations in the data available to describe and monitor the hospital workforce and that there is a need to remedy this situation.

Allied Health Personnel↗

PubMed2002

Women in medicine: a four-nation comparison.

OBJECTIVES: to determine the impact of increasing numbers of women in medicine on the physician work force in Australia, Canada, England, and the United States. METHODS: We collected data on physician work force issues from professional organizations and government agencies in each of the 4 nations. RESULTS: Women now make up nearly half of all medical students in all 4 countries and 20% to 30% of all practicing physicians. Most are concentrated in primary care specialties and obstetrics/gynecology and are underrepresented in surgical training programs. Women physicians practice largely in urban settings and work 7 to 11 fewer hours per week than men do, for lower pay. Twenty percent to 50% of women primary care physicians are in part-time practice. CONCLUSIONS: Work force planners should anticipate larger decreases in physician full-time equivalencies than previously expected because of the increased number of women in practice and their tendency to work fewer hours and to be in part-time practice, especially in primary care. Responses to these changes vary among the 4 countries. Canada has developed a detailed database of work/family issues; England has pioneered flexible training schemes and reentry training programs; and Australia has joined consumers, physicians, and educators in improving training opportunities and the work climate for women. Improved access to surgical and subspecialty fields, training and practice settings that provide balance for work/family issues, and improved recruitment and retention of women physicians in rural areas will increase the contributions of women physicians.

Australia↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Medical workforce planning in Australia: process, methodology and technical issues.

This article describes the process, methods and technical issues associated with national level planning of the medical workforce in Australia. In Australia, workforce planning is also undertaken for the nursing and allied health workforces using largely similar processes and methods outlined below, with obvious modifications for differences in data sources, structures and practice. In Australia, the focus is also switching to a more integrated planning approach along care group lines, for example emergency care, diabetes care. This approach is still in its infancy and some technical and methodology issues are unresolved. Much of the health workforce planning in Australia is undertaken at the national level through the research team at the National Health Workforce Secretariat, although some work is also undertaken by individual jurisdictional health departments and other stakeholders. Information about the national health workforce agenda and the outcomes of the research and analysis is available through the Health Workforce Australia website at http://www.healthworkforce.health.nsw.gov.au. It should be acknowledged that the main sections of this article have been summarised from the 2003 publication Specialist Medical Workforce Planning In Australia, prepared by the Australian Medical Workforce Advisory Committee and the National Health Workforce Secretariat.

Adult↗