OVER 14 THOUSAND VACANCIES IN HEALTH SECTOR

The PNG Health Department revealed staggering statistics of vacancies up to 14, 518 are identified and need filling.  

7, 130 of these vacancies are identified as critical clinical positions and need to be urgently filled. They include Nursing, Community Health Workers, Health Education Officers, Laboratory Technologists, Pharmacists, Dental Therapists and Physiotherapists. The department noted that the total cost for these vacancies would be around K316 Million, this includes their allowances.

The nursing position has the highest number of vacancies from the list with at least 3, 500 personnel in need, followed by Community Health Workers with 2,700 staff in need.

In general, for the country’s Health Sector Workforce, the department revealed that about 41 percent of the workforce has posts occupied, 3 percent has posts unattached and a surprising 51 percent of vacancies, despite the fact that the country has about 12 academic institutions offering medical courses to train health personnel and graduating more than 30 to 40 qualified medical practitioners per year.  

The Health department notes among others that having a huge vacancy gap over a long period of time has a negative impact on health service delivery, hold-ups and delays in the recruitment processes proves hard for the department to retain graduands, and budget constraints, are contributing factors to health workforce vacancies dilemma.

Secretary for National Department of Health, Dr. Osborne Liko in a statement last year at the 56^th Medical Symposium of the Medical Society of PNG, expressed the department’s need to increase the number of health workers, especially after the hit of COVID-19

 Some measures noted by this vital sector of the country to take as way forward include;

1. Urgent filling of Clinical Vacancies
2. Reconsideration of Public Service Process and Devolve recruitment powers to National Department of Health
3. Review Health Union Award Arrangements

This was the presentation done at the 6^th Public Sector Human Resource Managers Forum, that took place on the 30^th to the 31^st of March, 2023, at the Apec Haus in Port Moresby.