Doctor Emigration Project

Lead Researcher:

Prof Ruairi Brugha

Award Date:

1 January 2013

Host Institution:

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland

Scheme:

Health Research Award

Summary:

‘Health systems maintain the life of a country, and the people who work in them are its life blood'. Ex-President Mary Robinson’s quote demonstrates the importance of health workers in health service delivery. Implementation of the Fottrell and Buttimer reports means that Ireland is now training sufficient numbers of doctors to meet future needs. However, large-scale emigration of Irish doctors during and after their postgraduate training, necessitating large-scale recruitment of foreign doctors, represents a huge waste of scarce public resources and a threat to the delivery of a 21st century health service in Ireland. The Doctor Emigration Project research team, in collaboration with HSE workforce planners and the Irish Medical Council, will measure how many Irish doctors intend to and actually emigrate each year; from what training specialties and at what career points they leave; explore their reasons for leaving and what strategies would retain them in Ireland; and what would induce emigrant Irish doctors to return to work in Ireland? The project will develop a profile of medical emigration intentions and behaviour, using a range of secondary data sources. It will use mixed (qualitative and quantitative) methods in 2014 and again in 2015 to ascertain intentions to and factors influencing emigration plans, using a longitudinal study method to provide more reliable predictions of doctors’ plans and the implications for different medical (hospital and general practice) specialties. Qualitative interviews with Irish doctors who emigrated or remained in Ireland, to explore decision-making, will provide evidence to Irish policy and decision makers to design retention strategies and packages to attract back Irish doctors to fill gaps, provide a high quality service, and ensure public funds going to medical training are not wasted. Failure to ensure a sustainable medical workforce, which this project will support, will undermine all other health service goals.