NZ Women In Medicine 2024 Workforce Survey Results

The 2024 New Zealand Women in Medicine Workforce Survey has generated a ‘whole-of-system' view of workforce sustainability from doctors working across all areas of medicine in Aotearoa New Zealand.

New Zealand Women in Medicine (NZWIM) engaged research agency Cogo in August 2024 to carry out insights research to investigate the experiences of New Zealand doctors working in the current health system. A specific area of interest was to explore the impact of secondary care shortages on primary care and vice versa, and to better understand the working conditions of New Zealand doctors in the current health system.

A total of 1,382 complete responses were received, with 625 (45%) respondents working primarily in Community/Primary care and 675 (49%) in Hospital/Secondary care, with good demographic representation including by age, ethnicity, and geographic location.

New Zealand doctors are showing high rates of burnout and dissatisfaction with their day-to-day work. Doctors’ experiences of the health system and their suggestions for immediate improvement are consistent across Primary and Secondary Care.

The profession is united in calling for immediate actions to address staff shortages, calling also for truth-telling from health sector leaders and politicians about the current crisis, adequate funding of the health system, particularly in primary care, improved working conditions, and cross-party agreement on long-term health policy decisions.

Results:

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Doctors appear to be withdrawing from the profession: nearly a third (30%) of Secondary Care doctors and 41% of Primary Care doctors have thought about and discussed leaving the profession in the past 12 months. 53% of Primary Care doctors and 47% of Secondary Care doctors reported declining to take on additional workload in the past 12 months and fill staffing shortages. One-third (33%) of Primary Care doctors and 18% from Secondary Care reduced their overall contracted hours. Over a quarter (27%) of Secondary Care and over a third (34%) of Primary Care doctors have researched alternative career paths and 10% of all doctors surveyed - one in ten - have contacted a recruiter in the past 12 months.

High levels of burnout among doctors are indicated from the survey findings, with 69% reporting that they are always or often worn out at the end of the day, and 38% that they are always or often exhausted in the morning at the thought of another day of work.15% of all doctors have taken stress leave in the past 12 months.

For Primary Care doctors, “Increasing workload/long hours”, “Working under pressure/time constraints”, and “Increasingly difficult to manage patient expectations" are the top sources of dissatisfaction with their day-to-day work. Secondary care dissatisfaction primarily relates to “Inefficient system/infrastructure” and ”Overstretched resources”, as well as “Increasing workload/long hours”.

Although the high levels of dissatisfaction and indications of burnout are concerning, around half of doctors are satisfied with their day-to-day work and the top reasons are consistent across the sector: “I find my job fulfilling and rewarding”, “My work is varied and interesting” and “I enjoy the patient contact”.

While 89% of doctors feel supported by their immediate team and colleagues, fewer feel supported by clinical leaders and non-clinical management: 61% feel supported by clinical leaders and less than half (47%) could say they felt supported by non-clinical management.

There is general consensus from doctors on the key levers for improvement:

Staffing: Acknowledge the existing hiring freeze and address staff shortages across the health system, particularly doctors.
Honesty: There is a need for a frank conversation with the general public that acknowledges that the health system is in crisis, and that current levels of funding are insufficient to support the public health system in its current form.
Funding: Adequately fund the health system, but particularly primary health care, given its role and expertise in keeping health system costs contained ($1 invested in primary care saves $14 being spent in secondary care).
Recognition: Respect and value our trained medical professionals, including with better remuneration, improved management of rosters and access to annual leave, and more support for the heavy administrative load carried by doctors.
Cross-party agreement: Long-term bipartisan planning and investment is needed to secure a stable workforce and maintain clinical standards and safety, while adapting to the increasingly complex 21st century healthcare environment.

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