Inconsistencies in authoritative national paediatric workforce data sources.

Conclusions The national datasets currently available from federal and speciality sources do not provide consistent or reliable counts of the number of medical practitioners. The lack of an adequate baseline for the workforce prevents accurate predictions of future needs to provide the best possible care of children in Australia.What is known about the topic? Various national data sources contain counts of the number of medical practitioners in Australia. These data are used in health workforce projections, policy and planning.What does this paper add? The present study found that the current data sources do not provide consistent or reliable counts of the number of practitioners in eight selected fields of paediatric speciality practice. There are several potential issues in the way workforce data are collected or analysed that cause the variation between sources to occur.What are the implications for practitioners? Without accurate data on which to base decision making, policy options may not be aligned with the actual needs of children with various medical needs, in various geographic areas or the nation as a whole. PMID: 27788350 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Australian Health Review - Category: Hospital Management Authors: Tags: Aust Health Rev Source Type: research