Shortage of doctors already troubling private clinics as well as health centres
Several dozen vacant positions for company physicians
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The shortage of doctors has become more and more evident also in the private sector and in occupational health services.
There is no exact statistical information available regarding the extent of the problem. However, according to the companies operating in the field, recruiting has become increasingly difficult in the last couple of years, says executive director Ismo Partanen of Association of Private Medical Services (LPY).
There is a shortage of company physicians in particular. Currently there are several dozen open vacancies across the country.
Apart from occupational health, at times companies have also found it difficult to fill the vacancies for doctors in some other specialist fields, such as geriatrics.
Particularly in the capital area there is a lack of company physicians.
"For some time now it has felt like there is a definite shortage of doctors. In recent months, though, it has started to look like we may have made it over the worst", says personnel coordinator Marja Varis of occupational health care company Diacor.
At times there have been very few applicants for the advertised positions.
"At the moment a mere ad in a paper is not enough. One must actively seek contacts", Mehiläinen Hospitals' chief medical officer Jarmo Karpakka says in describing the recruitment situation.
In the private sector the shortage of doctors is greatest in the eastern and northern parts of the country.
"The situation is not quite as bad as in the public health care sector, though", says Partanen of LPY.
"In general, the situation in the private sector is not yet critical, except maybe in the occupational health sector in some areas."
When it comes to the reason for the shortage, there are differing views.
Companies offering private medical services have to provide the name of the occupational health doctor in the contract agreed with the client firm.
For such fixed employment it is difficult to find candidates, Partanen explains.
Firms also refer to the rapid economic growth of recent years, which has given occasion to hire more doctors.
Chief Executive Officer Dr. Heikki Pälve of the Finnish Medical Association also assumes that most of the doctors who are interested in switching from public health care to the occupational sector have already done so.
Pälve does not regard some doctors' desire to work on a temporary basis as a reason for the shortage.
One possible cause for the lack of enthusiasm among doctors over fixed appointments and positions is taxation. Working on a freelance basis through a medical provider can be more attractive in that companies in the field can pay dividends not on investment or on the share of the company held, but on the actual work that is performed.
In this way, a doctor can earn part of his livelihood as capital income, which is not taxed as heavily as normal earned income, and can come away with more in his or her pocket for the same number of hours worked.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 13.11.2008 - TODAY |
 Shortage of doctors already troubling private clinics as well as health centres |
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