Junior Doctor Manifesto leading the way at the North Metropolitan Health Service

North Metropolitan Health Service was recently awarded a prestigious innovation award at the national Health Roundtable showcase in Melbourne, for its innovative approach to the recruitment and retention of junior doctors.

North Metropolitan Health Service (NMHS) Area Director Clinical Services Dr George Eskander said he was delighted the organisation had received recognition for the innovative Junior Doctor Manifesto (JDM), which placed focus on more flexible work arrangements that has led to the remarkable uptake of junior doctor roles.

"It really was a team effort and I thank everyone involved who helped to create the JDM, especially as it pushed traditional rostering boundaries and challenged the health workforce to embrace a more flexible work life balance," he said.

The JDM led to the creation of 33 part time positions, with a real focus on flexibility, resulting in vacancy rates dropping from 42 positions to nil in February 2023.

"I am incredibly proud of the team at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital (SCGOPHCG) for quickly embracing and implementing change."

When the JDM was created the organisation had 42 FTE vacancies, which was an unprecedented number of vacancies along with reports of burnout and increased absenteeism.

"The JDM focuses on creating part time opportunities for doctors, enshrining a culture of psychological safety, creating a streamlined overtime approval process, embedded taking leave as part of the heart of our business and implemented a medical workforce on-call, along with a below the line pathway for reporting," Dr Eskander said.

"It really challenged previous behaviours and traditions within the group.

"Our doctors are reporting much greater satisfaction across the group.

"We increased our retention rate and approved 75 per cent of requests for annual leave within five days.

"Ninety-four per cent of our interns have renewed their contracts to further their medical careers and for us that has a profound impact on our overall workforce."

Dr Eskander emphasised that it was the commitment of the entire SCGOPHCG workforce that drove the programs overall success.

"This is a real team effort and something our healthcare group should be incredibly proud of," he said.

"North Metropolitan Health Service is leading the way in medical workforce innovation."