Pride taken in recommended employer status
Robert Toms
Chief Executive, North Metropolitan Health Service
We are absolutely delighted that for the third year running, North Metropolitan Health Service (NMHS) has achieved the highest-ranking score as a recommended employer for junior medical officers (JMOs) in the latest AMA (WA) HHC survey.
We are proud of the NMHS for receiving recognition for our continued investment in the wellbeing of our junior doctors, with 94% of JMOs surveyed recommending NMHS as the employer of choice.
We are honoured to receive A+ scores in this year’s survey. Especially as it is the first time an A+ score has been included. It is a fantastic reflection of our commitment to supporting our junior doctors.
We are also thrilled to see high scores received for our Women and Newborn Health Service (WNHS), which is assessed separately in the survey. The survey results show marked improvements over six areas for WNHS, including three A scores.
“ We have exciting initiatives planned in the year ahead, based on the feedback of our junior doctors, executives and our medical teams.
The success is testament to our JMO Manifesto, which was first piloted at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in 2023 and then rolled out at WNHS last year.
The JMO Manifesto champions flexible working arrangements, below-the-line pathway reporting, a culture of psychological safety, leave and pay processes and medical workforce on-call arrangements.
The high scores show we are on the right path, particularly the positive impact our JMO initiatives have had on staff morale and workplace culture for junior doctors.
Of note, more than 90% of annual leave requests are approved within five business days and JMOs report the lowest rate of burnout in WA for 2024, with marked improvement at WNHS and other sites.
I would like to acknowledge the dedication of our medical workforce, administration and education teams, with special mention to our managers of Medical Workforce and coordinators of Medical Education. Along with our executive teams, these teams strive to ensure that the JMO experience across NMHS is positive and supported.
Surveys such as the HHC provide valuable feedback and the opportunity to review our progress.
We recognise that there are areas to enhance our support for our JMOs, and our executive will continue to work in collaboration with JMOs to refine our approach. We have exciting initiatives planned in the year ahead, based on the feedback of our junior doctors, executives and our medical teams.
We are proud of the improved scores achieved over recent years and recognise the need to continually engage with JMOs to ensure they feel valued and respected.