Waitaki District Health Services Ltd came under criticism during an Otago District Health Board committee meeting yesterday, when board members said spending on the Waitaki campaign was "concerning" and "regrettable".
Committee member Kaye Crowther said rather than spending "valuable dollars" on overseas recruitment, rural health services should be making a concerted effort to work with the board's recruitment campaign.
When contacted after the meeting, health services chairman George Berry defended the Waitaki campaign and said the organisation was negotiating employment with three health workers as a result of the campaign. It has two vacancies.
The campaign, which included a brochure and a website, began in July and had cost about $4000.
"To my knowledge, we have never been invited to join, or been consulted about the Otago District Health Board's [recruitment] campaign," he said.
The Waitaki campaign differed from the board's, because it was targeting people looking for a lifestyle change to work in the district, or rural, hospitals.
Committee member Balclutha GP Dr Branko Sijnja said the board's recruitment team had provided Clutha health services with contacts for potential recruits, but they had all come to nothing.
"People go to a meeting [recruitment expo] and say `Yeah, yeah, I'm interested in New Zealand' and go on the list, but when you actually contact them, it is a different ball game."
Committee chairman Errol Millar said the Health Minister had talked about the "excessive duplication" in district health boards' overseas recruitment campaigns.
"He has been issuing edicts saying, `Get your act together and do it nationally'."
The Otago and Southland boards jointly sent recruitment teams to expos in the United Kingdom in 2007 and last year. The Healthdownsouth campaign also has its own website.
Following the 2007 overseas campaign, 13 jobs in Otago and Southland were taken and earlier this year seven health professionals, including doctors and nurses, had accepted jobs as a result of last year's campaign.
The 2007 campaign cost the boards $140,000.
