John MacDonald: Bonding medical graduates isn't realistic

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

Should we be bonding new doctors so they can’t just disappear overseas as soon as they leave medical school?

One doctor is saying today that we should. But I think he’s dreaming.

This is after the news that the Government’s new health targets for things like emergency departments and cancer treatment have a six-year timeframe.

The Health Minister didn’t talk about timeframes when he made the big announcement last week. But it’s now been revealed that it won’t happen overnight, but it will happen. Maybe.

Let me remind you of the targets. Which are all great targets to have. 90% of patients will receive cancer management within 31 days of the decision to treat. 95% of children will be fully immunised by the time they turn 2. 95% of patients will be admitted, discharged or transferred from an emergency department within six hours. 95% of patients will wait less than four months for their first specialist appointment. 95% of patients will wait less than four months for elective treatment.

All good things. Who wouldn’t say that? Except the medical people and the Opposition are saying that waiting six years is too long.

Dr Peter Boot thinks even next week would be too late. Let alone in six years time.

He's keen on bonding. The old idea of requiring graduates, after they’ve had an education, to stick around and pay society back for the privilege.

I said earlier that Dr Boot is dreaming because I think bonding could have been a thing back in the day when people didn’t have to pay for an education like they do now.

Back then I think it would have been very realistic to say to new doctors, ‘look, the taxpayer has paid for you to become a doctor. Now’s the time for you to return the favour, to stick around and work here for a certain period, before you think about heading overseas.’

Not now, though. When medical students can clock up somewhere around $100,000 in debt paying for their education. They don’t actually owe us anything, do they?

Yes, I know the money they pay to become doctors isn’t totally user-pays and the taxpayer pays a truckload as well. But if you were going to bond doctors, how would that be fair if you weren’t going to bond accountants and lawyers and architects and scientists?

It wouldn’t be fair. And, because of that, I don’t think bonding is a very good or a very realistic idea.

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