Billboards encouraging Irish healthcare workers to move to Australia have been erected near a top Dublin hospital leading to fears it could spark a further exodus Down Under.
The aggressive marketing strategy deployed by The Department of Health in Victoria has been spotted minutes away from the Mater Hospital in Phibsborough and Dorset Street Lower. One of the signs, which was put up in recent days, shows two medical professionals chatting alongside the message “Victoria, Australia. Now recruiting healthcare workers … join the community.”
At the bottom of the billboard, it says: “Authorised by the Victorian Government, Melbourne Australia.” The Irish Mirror understands that each year there is a mass exodus of young doctors and nurses who emigrate to Australia in the early stages of their careers for better working conditions.
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Hundreds of doctors spend around two years working Down Under before they return to Ireland or the United Kingdom to begin their specialty training. One medic who spotted the sign took to Twitter and said: “Saw this on Dorset street today on way to work. Just out of a meeting where we discussed staff shortages and recruitment issues. We need to improve conditions & retain our staff."
Aontu leader Peadar Tóibín called for the Minister of Health Stephen Donnelly to resign and said the Irish Department of Health was failing to retain healthcare professionals because of “intolerable” working conditions.
Speaking to The Irish Mirror, he said: “I have no confidence in the Minster for Health. The Minister of Health is not in charge of his brief. He has not shown the authority necessary to reform the system. The hospital service is in a deep crisis at the minute.
“We think the Minister should resign forthwith. If the Minister can’t keep staff in the hospitals well then we’re going to see waiting lists increase and waiting times increase and that’s to everybody’s negative experience.”
Deputy Tóibín added: “There is a crisis of key medical staff leaving the country … The only way that the Government can actually retain staff here in Ireland is to make sure staff have proper terms and conditions and salaries. We are operating within an international market for these skills and if we want to keep skills and professionals, we have to pay the market rates and conditions.
“Every time, I speak to a medic in terms of leaving they cite the fact the conditions are intolerable in Irish hospitals, and indeed there’s no doubt the conditions and the under-staffing that’s happening is putting enormous pressure on the shoulders of staff and it’s leading to poorer outcomes.
“People are suffering worse health outcomes and in certain cases death as a result of understaffing, that’s happening in our hospitals. There’s no doubt about that.”
The Irish Medical Organisation told us medics leave Ireland to work in healthcare systems that “value, respect and support them." A spokesman said: “This can come as no surprise to Government or the HSE.
“Emigration levels are increasing year on year as many doctors, and other healthcare workers, leave Ireland to work in health systems that value, respect and support them.
“We have warned for years that Government must recognise the toxic working conditions, the unsustainable hours, and the pressures that our doctors are experiencing as they try to deliver patient care in a system that is under-resourced across all settings.”
When contacted by The Irish Mirror, The Department of Health in Victoria told us: “Attracting new talent, including from overseas, is central to our Pandemic Repair Plan to build a better health system for Victoria’s future.
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“Workers from overseas are making a big difference on the ground, helping to ensure we can meet the record demand for health services and provide Victorians with the care they need when they need it.
“Victoria is an incredible place to live and work, particularly for healthcare workers who are supported by attractive pay packages and excellent working conditions, not to mention access to some of the world’s best coffee, food, live music, and art.”
The Department of Health in Ireland did not respond to questions from the Irish Mirror.
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