Medforce may be a relatively new name in healthcare recruitment but the platinum sponsor of this year’s Future Health Summit boasts a wealth of experience in the field.
Part of the Lincoln Group, Medforce is led by CEO Shay Dalton, who has worked in healthcare recruitment for the past 15 years. With a reach across the public and private healthcare market, Medforce’s services are across full-time, part-time, fixed-term contract and temporary staffing in the three key areas of nursing, allied health professionals and doctors.
These three core divisions are headed by people with a wealth of experience servicing the Irish healthcare market: Charlene Cooke heads up the Allied Health Division, Sheena Morgan is head of Doctors, and Kerry Phelan manages the Nursing & HCA market. “The experience they bring to their roles is critically important. You need to have a deep understanding of the sector if you are going to help organisations find the staff they need,” says Dalton.
Unsurprisingly, there is a strong demand for Medforce services, given the ongoing need across healthcare for staff. Dalton says a “complex chain of problems has caused the shortages in healthcare staffing”, including early retirement, burnout and emigration.
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While the healthcare labour market was worse during the pandemic when people couldn’t get into the country to take up roles, it continues to be a “challenging hiring environment characterised by low unemployment rates and high demand for specialised skills”, he adds.
What Dalton describes as an overloaded health service is facing multiple challenges, he observes, such as an overstretched workforce dealing with huge patient backlogs, with older staff wanting to leave “and younger ones looking for a better work-life balance”.
About 75 to 80 per cent of newly qualified doctors emigrate. They may go to Australia for better pay, working conditions and quality of life. There is also an increasing shortage of GPs
— Shay Dalton
As a result, the Irish healthcare market is facing significant challenges in terms of staffing, with many hospitals and clinics struggling to provide adequate care to patients due to a lack of available medical professionals. The staffing solutions provided by Medforce can play an important part in assisting with some of these issues, Dalton says.
He references a recent Irish Medical Organisation survey which found that an overwhelming majority of doctors in Ireland had experienced some form of depression, while four-fifths said that they were at risk of burnout and were struggling to manage a work-life balance. Dalton believes this would not be acceptable in almost any other sector and that it is a contributing factor to the market conditions.
“About 75 to 80 per cent of newly qualified doctors emigrate,” he points out. “They may go to Australia for better pay, working conditions and quality of life. There is also an increasing shortage of GPs. It’s getting more and more difficult to replace doctors as they retire and leave the profession.”
Employees across all sectors have taken the opportunity to travel post-pandemic; the healthcare market is no exception and may even be a front-runner in this. “Healthcare is a global market and the quality of Irish healthcare staff is recognised right across the world. This makes it easier for Irish healthcare staff to travel and pick up roles in other countries, quite often with pay and conditions that out-perform the Irish market”, says Dalton.
“While shortages can be seen across the healthcare market, some sectors, such as the nursing-home sector, can find it particularly hard to compete in a challenging staffing market, with competition on cost and the options of carers to move into HSE roles. Many sectors have looked increasingly to staff coming into Ireland from overseas but this can be a slow and complex process.”
Medforce brings a personal approach to help healthcare organisations meet those challenges. With years of experience in the healthcare sector, the company has forged strong relationships across the healthcare market. Going beyond mere recruitment services, it provides comprehensive career-consultancy services. Dalton says this approach engenders trust from healthcare professionals who rely on Medforce to guide them in making informed decisions about their career moves.
“People start to plan their careers a long way out,” he explains. “If they are considering moving in 2024 or 2025, they are probably thinking about it now. They come to us for advice on that. We prioritise the wellbeing of our candidates and take the necessary time to comprehend their backgrounds and aspirations, ensuring confidentiality and objective career advice. We establish a mutually beneficial relationship with our candidates by prioritising these essential elements. We do not see recruitment as a transaction; when we place a candidate in a role, we see it as part of a long-term relationship that will last throughout their career.”
This approach benefits Medforce clients as well. “It gives us access to a much wider pool of people,” Dalton says. “That’s one of our advantages. It’s more than a job for the team in Medforce and it’s a market they know very well. We are glad to be able to play our part in helping our clients meet their recruitment challenges. We understand the market, enjoy working with the people and organisations in it, and are proud to be part of it.”
To find out more visit the Medforce website here