Key points
- The specialist trainee workforce is integral to public hospital service delivery. Given the vital role of public hospitals, expansion of training settings needs to be measured and gradual and designed to supplement public hospitals as the key setting for specialist training.
- The specialist trainee workforce plays a vital role in providing training for junior doctors, other health professionals and students and this role must be maintained and supported.
- A structured system for the administration and funding of expanded training arrangements should be developed and implemented, in line with the recent COAG announcement.
- Full scale implementation of expanded training opportunities will occur from 2011. This is when the number of specialist trainees entering vocational training will have increased to a level that allows expansion to occur without a detrimental effect on the public hospital workforce and training capacity.