An investigation of the factors that influence migration among Maltese hospital medical doctors.

Abstract

The achievement of goals in health care aimed at promoting quality, equity, fairness and responsiveness, is negatively affected by the migration of human resources - one of the factors of production of health services. This concern has been voiced both by local as well as international authorities. Several bodies and organisations are seeking to encourage further research to gain knowledge about the reasons behind medical migration in order to be able to draft effective human resources strategies. The current study investigated the key reasons that predispose Maltese hospital medical doctors to migrate. This study was aimed at: • Designing a research tool that measures potential migration of medical doctors. • Developing a model that will identify and classify migration 'push' and 'pull' factors amongst Maltese medical doctors. • Making recommendations on strategies for medical human resources planning based on the above findings. After approval from a Board of Studies and other authorities, the researcher used a mixed methodology to achieve the above described research objectives. In the first part of this study, the researcher conducted six (6) individual semi structured interviews with medical doctors were conducted. This was followed by a survey. A self-designed questionnaire was distributed amongst 208 medical doctors working in state owned hospitals in Malta. The study revealed that 57.8% of Maltese hospital doctors show a predisposition to migrate with 13.3% actually planning their migration. More than 75% of doctors intending to leave are mostly between 20 and 30 years (p>0.001). Career development heads the list of reasons why doctors want to migrate. This is followed by financial and employment factors. There was a significant difference in perception regarding workload management between those doctors who want to leave Malta and those who want to stay (p=O.021). The United Kingdom is the preferred country for migration, followed by Australia. Language and harmonisation of qualifications are the two main reasons for such a choice. On the basis of the study findings, the following recommendations are being put forward: • To develop a human resources strategy aimed at setting up post-graduate specialist training programmes in Malta, drafting appropriate employment packages for doctors and a repatriation package for Maltese doctors who have migrated. • To carry out further studies directed at investigating repatriation issues; to repeat the study at a different period of time or use some other methodology and to use the designed tool in a longitudinal study. This management report confirms the concern that is being felt about the loss of young Maltese medical doctors to other countries amounting to 76.63% of young doctors. Hence it emphasises the urgency of seriously considering the recommendations mentioned above that deals with both financial and non financial issues. (446 Words)