Doctor urges flexibility on part-time work to attract doctors home

Negative attitudes among senior managers at Landspítali, Iceland’s national hospital, towards doctors working part time while also treating patients elsewhere are based on a misunderstanding, according to vascular surgeon Stefán E. Matthíasson, executive director of Skurðstofan ehf., as reported by mbl.is.

Stefán said the trend was concerning because flexible working arrangements were necessary to attract doctors back to Iceland. He pointed to the dismissal this spring of Ragnar Freyr Ingvarsson, a specialist in internal medicine who had worked part time at the hospital. Hospital managers said the dismissal was part of a plan to combine several doctors’ part-time positions into full-time roles in response to government cost-cutting requirements.

“This matters greatly when people are considering returning home, where they should work and what future they have,” Stefán told Morgunblaðið. “It matters if we intend to bring people home and staff the services we plan to provide.”

Large groups of specialist doctors are approaching retirement and are expected to leave the profession within the next five to seven years. Stefán said there was currently no clear prospect of filling those positions. Unless conditions change, the situation could become serious and waiting lists for healthcare services could grow.

He said it was therefore important to attract doctors back to Iceland and improve policymakers’ understanding of the importance of integrating Landspítali, primary healthcare and specialist doctors.