Wednesday 15 August 2012, 3:43PM
Media release from Tony Ryall Minister of Health
For the fourth year in a row, registration for the government's
Voluntary Bonding Scheme has attracted great interest with a total
of 2,300 health graduates now accepted onto the scheme.
"This year we have accepted all 510 health graduates who applied
for the bonding scheme - 43 doctors, 42 midwives, 411 nurses, 13
radiation therapists and one medical physicist," says Health
Minister Tony Ryall.
"Registrations are spread widely across the country, with all
district health boards (DHBs) receiving registrations. Even the
smallest DHBs - South Canterbury, Tairawhiti, Wairarapa, West Coast
and Whanganui - have received half a dozen registrations
each.
"The most popular hard-to-staff specialties this intake were
general practice, mental health nursing, internal medicine and aged
care nursing.
"In total, 1809 nurses, 263 doctors, 218 midwives, 13 radiation
therapists and one medical physicist have now been accepted onto
the bonding scheme since the National Government started it in
2009," Mr Ryall says.
"We want more of our home grown health graduates to stay in New
Zealand after graduation and initiatives established by this
government, including the voluntary bonding scheme and rural
immersion training placement programme, are helping to achieve
that.
"The bonding scheme aims to keep our health graduates living and
working in hard to staff specialties and communities in New Zealand
with payments towards student loans or cash incentives over three
to five years.
"Payments totalling over $2.9 million have already been paid out
to 278 graduates who have completed their first three years on the
bonding scheme.
"While the rural immersion programme encourages students to train
in a rural area to gain a taste for country life. Experience
overseas suggests that students who train in rural areas are more
likely to work in rural areas."