The ongoing Australian workforce crisis has taken a dramatic turn as it has now started to affect the patient care system in the country. A distressing piece of information broadcasted by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP), based on a nationwide survey, has revealed that 93% of Australian psychiatrists vehemently believe that the crisis is corroding the patient care system in an alarming manner. 

For any healthcare professional who wants to stay up to date about the ongoing workforce crisis in Australia, and how it affects the patient care system or if you are a healthcare professional who wants to find work in times such as these, Medfuture, is an ally that you can believe in. Visit Medfuture,  and get connected to a wide array of employment opportunities and find the perfect professional environment that you desire in a time like this.

As it has been revealed in the news and the multiple surveys conducted by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, this is all a consequence of a multitude of factors such as burn-out (caused by increased pressure in the professional sphere which is caused by an overload of demands in the psychiatric field). Furthermore, 74% of mental health professionals have shown symptoms of burn-out in the past three years alone. However, what is the benefit of knowing this distressing information for a healthcare professional who is planning to discover professional opportunities in Australia? To understand why healthcare professionals feel burned-out, we have to go through the details behind the reasons.

One of the main reasons that cause burn-out within the psychiatrist community is the lack of qualified healthcare professionals who are able to handle the ever-increasing mental health demands of Australian citizens, especially first nation citizens. The economic turbulence that followed as a result of the pandemic has created a world in which people are increasingly on edge, anxious, depressed or in other states of mental deterioration. This rapid decline in global mental health conditions can specially be seen in Australia and the number of psychiatrists who are professionally and experientially well-equipped are not as abundant as it needs to be. This is all backed by the evidence that the RANZCP has gathered in its surveys. One such bit of information reveals that 9 in 10 felt that the workforce shortage negatively impacts patient care, and over 3 in 10 have stated that they are planning to leave the profession within the next five years.

This attitude of burned-out professionals is one of the main causes that is the reason behind the patient care system spiraling down into critical levels of dysfunctionality. However, this reveals that the ongoing chronic shortage of psychiatrists is also a moment of opportunity for healthcare professionals who excel in the field of mental health and psychology to join the Australian healthcare system and help serve patients suffering from mental illnesses. Moreover, it has been revealed that private health institutions provide more than 50% of the mental health admissions in the country but most of them have started to face the risk of being shut down due to the shortages in mental health professionals. A major reason behind this is that the psychiatrists near to the locales that home the individuals in need of mental healthcare are already under so much pressure from being overloaded with work.

As mentioned above, the ever-increasing demand for mental health professionals and the risk that private health institutions face, has created a massive void in terms of healthcare professionals and the national healthcare system, along with private institutions such as private hospitals, is now actively on the lookout for healthcare professionals who can fill these positions and avert any risks of either being closed down or being overloaded with patients.

Moreover, the RANZCP has called out to the government to create safeguards for any scenarios that might negatively affect the healthcare and patientcare system. Some of these proposed remedies include investing $7.06 million as a means of funding the Psychiatry Interest Forum program for an extended period of 6.5 years which will benefit the system by attracting the next generation of psychiatry trainees. Furthermore, another proposed amendment includes increasing the Specialist Trainee Program (STP) funding by $5.52 million over three years to create more opportunities of training additional placements in private hospital settings in 2025-2027. This creates more opportunities for prospecting psychiatrists who plan to study or move to Australia while also easing up the pressure that is currently beating down the Australian healthcare community.

Another important fact about ‘burn-out’ is that it can negatively affect the patients as well. If the doctors treating the patients are not at their maximum capacity to tend to the mental well-being of patients, then the patient is at risk of not being treated appropriately which leads to other complications. In the previous year, the Federal Government of Australia released a cohesive strategy to minimize the above negative impacts. This plan, titled the National Mental Health Workforce Strategy framed the specific requirements that are needed to combat this such as the need to attract, train, and retain qualified individuals who can help build the mental health workforce while also emphasizing the importance of work experiences in the successfulness of the plans that were proposed.

Although the crisis might seem dire at the moment, the government has already put plans in motion that will help minimize and hopefully eradicate this issue. If you are a healthcare professional excelling in the field of psychiatry, then Medfuture is a beacon of trust that will guide you through the process of finding employment in the Australian healthcare system. By networking with Medfuture, you too can help combat the ongoing crisis by being a part of the healthcare system of Australia which will allow you to tend to the mental health needs of the people that are in need of it in times like these.