Staffing shortfalls are so acute at Sydney's Liverpool Hospital that senior doctors have been lobbying pharmaceutical companies for funds to privately recruit workers, a public inquiry into NSW hospitals has heard.
The issue again raises questions of the independence of the medical profession after it was revealed last month that pharmaceutical companies had paid $30 million for doctors and nurses to attend educational events.
Suzanne Hodgkinson, a senior neurologist at the hospital, told the inquiry that she approached a pharmaceutical company for $20,000 to pay for an administrative assistant.
She said morale among staff had dropped in recent years due to their increased workload, with senior doctors often having to do more menial tasks traditionally assigned to administrative staff.
"I considered I had insufficient clerical support and, so as to try and remedy that, I approached a company to help me with that on a temporary, part-time basis," she said.
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And what was the quid pro quo, one wonders....
1 comment:
But many high-level pharmaceutical employees have 'insufficient clerical support' and do 'menial tasks' with no extra remuneration as well - shouldn't charity begin at home?
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