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Professional Obstacles to Anaesthesiology Practice in Punjab, Pakistan: Qualitative Study of Consultant Anaesthesiologists’ Perspectives

  • Limitations in the global anaesthesia workforce contribute to the emigration of skilled anaesthesiologists from lower-income to higher-income countries, jeopardizing workforce balance and patient outcomes in Pakistan. This study aimed to explore the challenges experienced by anaesthesiologists in Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous province, and the potential changes to encourage their retention. We conducted a qualitative study, conducting semi-structured interviews with 25 purposively sampled consultant anaesthesiologists working in Punjab and analysing data thematically. Reported professional challenges and reasons consultant anaesthesiologists chose to work abroad differed between public and private sectors, each sector providing distinct challenges that compromised anaesthesia workforce numbers and quality. Key concerns were security, promotion/incentive structures, and gender inequalities in public hospitals versus inadequate salary and facilities, surgeon dependency, and the lack of out-of-theatre practice in private hospitalsLimitations in the global anaesthesia workforce contribute to the emigration of skilled anaesthesiologists from lower-income to higher-income countries, jeopardizing workforce balance and patient outcomes in Pakistan. This study aimed to explore the challenges experienced by anaesthesiologists in Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous province, and the potential changes to encourage their retention. We conducted a qualitative study, conducting semi-structured interviews with 25 purposively sampled consultant anaesthesiologists working in Punjab and analysing data thematically. Reported professional challenges and reasons consultant anaesthesiologists chose to work abroad differed between public and private sectors, each sector providing distinct challenges that compromised anaesthesia workforce numbers and quality. Key concerns were security, promotion/incentive structures, and gender inequalities in public hospitals versus inadequate salary and facilities, surgeon dependency, and the lack of out-of-theatre practice in private hospitals that minimized the scope and earnings of anaesthesiologists within Pakistan. Our findings help contextualise Pakistan’s anaesthesia workforce crisis, indicating public-sector improvements could include increasing security in hospital premises, performance-based incentives, and qualification-dependent promotion, while private-sector improvements could include decreasing surgeon dependency, fixing salary percent- ages by surgical case, and encouraging direct patient-anaesthesiologist relationships. National and subnational interventions to promote anaesthesiology, along with public awareness campaigns, could additionally raise its profile and encourage retention.show moreshow less

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Metadaten
Author:Sumbal Shahbaz, Rubeena Zakar, Florian FischerORCiDGND, Natasha Howard
DOI:https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192013427
Identifier:1660-4601 OPAC HS OPAC extern
Parent Title (English):International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health : IJERPH
Publisher:MDPI AG
Place of publication:Basel
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Date of Publication (online):2022/10/18
Year of first Publication:2022
Volume:19
Article Number:13427
Number of pages:12 Seiten
Institutes:BZPD - Bayerisches Forschungszentrum Pflege Digital
Dewey Decimal Classification:6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften
Open Access:open_access
Research focus:FSP4: Soziale Innovationen
Publication Lists:Fischer, Florian
Publication reviewed:begutachtet
Licence (German):Creative Commons - CC BY - Namensnennung 4.0 International
Release Date:2023/08/16
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