4 minute read
Uncertainty and frustrationover residency rights
Uncertainty and frustration over residency rights
Eileen Goodwin | Senior Communications Advisor
The long pause in processing permanent residence applications is causing stress for some doctors and adding pressure to an already stretched health care system.
Clare French is a general surgeon at Masterton Hospital. In a team of three, her caseload includes gallbladders, breast, thyroid, laparoscopic bowel cancer surgery, and endoscopy. It’s busy – she loves the role, describing her patients as “reasonable and practical” people. The working environment is much more “humane” than her former roles in the United States.
She is frustrated by the lack of progress in reopening the applications track for New Zealand residency, without which she is unable to purchase a home or safely leave the country. Paused last April due to Covid-19, it was first subject to a hiatus, then extended in October, with no decision since about when applications will resume. Some doctors have already left jobs – and the country – because of the problem. This includes O taki GP Harding Richards, who told RNZ his family had been unable to put down roots due to the uncertainty. Figures obtained by RNZ under the Official Information Act on 31 August, showed there were 675 doctors and just over 2,200 nurses waiting to apply for residence. Dr French says should she need to leave New Zealand to see family, she might be unable to return.
“I’m at risk of being in position of being forced to leave. My dad has Parkinson’s. I’m not able to go and see them in a reliable way. If I need to decide between going and having to take months to get back in, then I will need to decide whether to end my tenure here.” Her husband does not work in the health sector and would have even more difficulty re-entering. “We would end up being like the separated families due to the border. We don’t want to separate.” Dr French and her husband arrived in the country in March 2020, their decision to move to New Zealand from Washington State made before the pandemic. She initially entered under a special purpose one-year locum visa. Her efforts to become vocationally registered have also been subject to a long delay due to hold-ups with that process which are indirectly related to the pandemic. It has been a frustrating wait, but there has been progress on this front, and she hopes to obtain vocational registration in the coming months. “As a group we are eager to have any concrete information that will allow us to plan our lives, especially when our plans involve staying in New Zealand.” Health Minister Andrew Little said in a statement to The Specialist the issue was under active consideration but gave no firm detail.
ASMS Executive Director Sarah Dalton wrote to Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi about the problem in June, pointing out that New Zealand relies heavily on overseas-trained senior doctors and dentists to maintain our already stretched medical workforce.
“International recruiting is a difficult and time-consuming process. Those who are employed here in NZ meet all the requirements of the skilled migrant category for immigration purposes. However, due to current restrictions on processing residency applications from the skilled migrant list we are losing actual and potential senior medical consultants who are unable to buy a house, enrol in a Kiwisaver scheme – in short, they are unable to settle their families and put down roots in Aotearoa.”
However, Sarah Dalton says she was heartened by comments from Finance Minister Grant Robertson at a recent Council of Trade Unions affiliates meeting. “We hope that the Minister’s assurances to the CTU are correct about addressing residency applications, and that these issues for specialist doctors and dentists are a high priority. “We also expect improved communication around process and timeframes, which has been a massive problem to date.” Mr Robertson was also quizzed about difficulties experienced by some doctors obtaining spots in managed isolation, which he said the Government was working to address.
MIQ frustrations
Meghan Ryall, an emergency medicine specialist at Whakata -ne Hospital, travelled to see family in Canada in early August. It was a short trip – just over two weeks – taken for personal reasons to support her parents. For her return she tried to obtain a spot in emergency MIQ but was told she didn’t qualify. This surprised her, given her department was “down 50% of senior doctors”. She was then able to secure a regular MIQ spot due to “dumb luck”. She really felt for members of the public who had had huge trouble obtaining a spot. Dr Ryall believes doctors working in the public health system should be granted access to emergency MIQ spots, due to the pressure the health system is experiencing. With the youngest of her three children aged just 2, she is very pleased to be home. “I knew I was taking a chance, but I thought it was more important that I see my mother.”
