Israeli Ministry of Health monitors shortage of medical staff

According to a report prepared by the Israeli Ministry of Health, there would be a shortage of health cadres in the various disciplines and professions badociated with the health system in Israel.

"The index of medical services in Israel is one of the lowest in the OECD," the report says.

Among the many indicators included in the report, the number of physicians serving a thousand citizens, the international index of the quality of medical services in each country of this system, has reached 3.1 doctors in Israel, or three tenths less than in OECD countries. On average, there are 3.4 physicians per 1,000 population.

For nurses, the situation is more complicated. The number of nurses has increased in 2018, bringing to 68,543 the total number of nurses in Israel, of which 54,361 are under 67 years old.

The average number of nurses supporting 1,000 citizens is 5, which is well below the OECD index of 9.2 nurses per 1,000 population.

The report of the Israeli Ministry of Health has also pointed to clear disparities in health services based on these indicators in areas without other areas in Israel. For example, in the Tel Aviv region, 1,000 people serve 5.2 doctors and more than 6 nurses for the same number of citizens.

In southern Israel, for example, there are 2.1 doctors and 3.3 nurses per 1,000 inhabitants.

The report also revealed a significant shortage of a number of medical specialties such as: obstetrics and gynecology, cardiology, general surgery, allergies, immunization and immunization, skin and bad diseases, visual diseases, psychotherapy, surgery thoracic and cardiac and other specialties.

The shortage comes from the small number of medical graduates involved in the profession, the report said. While the average number of graduates in OECD countries is 13.56 per 100,000 citizens, this index does not exceed 6.9 in Israel, while in some European countries the numbers are much higher than rates, as in Ireland and Denmark, where the number of graduates is more than 20 per year. .