Greater supports needed to ensure international doctors are retained

Earlier this month, the Medical Council published its Medical Workforce Intelligence Report 2023. The report focuses on the clinically active medical workforce in Ireland, presenting quantitative analysis of demographics and divisional status, as well as details on employment and practise.

One of the issues the report highlights is the Irish health service’s continuing high dependence on international medical graduates (IMGs). Ireland currently has the fourth highest proportion of foreign-educated doctors within Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development member states.

In 2023, the Medical Council’s data indicates that just under 40 per cent of the clinically active workforce in Ireland had a basic medical qualification obtained abroad.

The proportion of doctors qualified in the EU or UK remained stable at 13.7 per cent when comparing 2023 and 2022, while the proportion of doctors qualified outside of Ireland, the EU and UK increased by 2.4 per cent (25.7 vs 23.3 per cent).

The report points out how the lack of progression opportunities, fear of deskilling, quality of training, excessive work hours and poor working conditions prompt many to actively seek to migrate or return to their home country within a few years of arriving in Ireland.

However, the Medical Council notes that last year the national taskforce on the NCHD workforce recommended that IMGs new to the Irish health service require enhanced and protected induction.

President of the Medical Council Dr Suzanne Crowe said workforce shortages in the health service highlight the need for greater supports to ensure doctors are retained and incentivised to practise medicine in Ireland.

“It’s important that Ireland remains an attractive place for doctors and their families to stay and work here long-term,” Dr Crowe said.

President of the IMO Dr Denis McCauley concurs with this view.

In a statement on the issue, Dr McCauley said: “The Medical Council data confirms our reliance on international doctors to deliver our health services, but their commitment to our patients is not matched by the HSE or the Government who are failing to provide them with training opportunities and career structures.”

He also referred to the wider problem of workforce planning, noting that Ireland has a growing population which increases the demand for healthcare.

“The Government must take note of the data in this report to address what is a crisis in medical workforce planning.”

He added that consultants were also experiencing intense pressure, with many retiring early as a result.

“Consultants regularly work above and beyond their contracted hours yet are consistently and incorrectly faced with charges of low productivity. This is unacceptable,” he said.

“Ultimately, the real losers here are our patients; doctors who are overworked and burnt out cannot provide the optimal care that is needed every day, which eventually leads to poorer outcomes.”

The findings of the Medical Council’s report tell us what many doctors and analysts following the Irish health service already knew. But it is imperative for policymakers to act decisively, leveraging this data to build a sustainable and resilient healthcare workforce for the future.