Allowing that the date was meant to be 5 July 2007 (Not June – at least that is when it arrived by my RSS Feed) this is just amazing!
Release Begins.
National recruitment drive kicks off in July
5 June, 2007. NEHTA stages a national recruitment drive as the NEHTA work program gains momentum.
A national recruitment drive is underway as NEHTA’s 2007/08 NEHTA work program gains momentum. The recruitment drive will target high calibre people interested in working in a challenging and rewarding environment and contributing to health reform in Australia. Positions across a number of projects will be available – in particular we will be targeting Business Analysts, Technical Analysts, Project Managers, Solutions Architects, Developers, Relationship / Account Managers, Technical Writers, Policy Officers, plus a variety of Clinical Terminology and Clinical Information roles ideal for clinical or healthcare professionals.
NEHTA, CEO, Dr Ian Reinecke maintains rapid growth has necessitated an aggressive push to add to the highly qualified and experienced people already on staff. ”Many of our key people have Masters and PhD qualifications in various disciplines including information technology and others are specialists from the health and medical research sectors,” he said.
Since NEHTA’s inception, the growth in staff numbers has been rapid and recruitment activity has been constant. However, as the work program has evolved, and as many projects head towards implementation, the need to anticipate unprecedented staffing requirements has increased. “Our ability to recruit and retain the best available talent is pivotal to the delivery of our project commitments,” Dr Reinecke said. “We are confident that we will be able to attract the people we need to get the job done.”
Position details will be posted on the Employment page of the NEHTA website progressively in July and August or enquiries can be sent to careers@nehta.gov.au.
End Release.
Just three comments:
1. Many of these jobs were being advertised on the 21 May, 2007 and are still being advertised 08 July, 2007 (e.g. Integration Manager, Policy Adviser and Pharmacists to undertake Medicines Terminology work). Seems either the pay, conditions, locations or future prospects with NEHTA must be lacking.
Hence the “National Recruitment Drive”!
2. I would have thought that, if the Boston Consulting Group Review did not have a pre-determined outcome that we have yet to be told, recruitment should be rather more conditional than it seems – if large payouts are to be avoided. Do the NEHTA recruiters know something we don’t? It is, of course, possible all these jobs are funded from the COAG money of 2-3 years ago and it just needs to be spent (? wasted if major change is suggested).
3. All the people NEHTA is seeking are likely to be smart enough to be aware of the NEHTA Standard Operating Procedures and Practice ( enforced secrecy, lack of consultation with stakeholders - especially clinical ones, abolition of consultative committees etc) and probably also already have reasonable jobs. They will ask themselves – why move? Without major internal change it is virtually certain many of these jobs will not be filled and the already over extended time-lines will blow out even further.
Wait for announcements of delays and budget blow outs. I suspect they are around the corner.
David.
3 comments:
And why architects and developers, etc? Are they looking to develop what industry already provides or could develop more cost-effectively? Has anyone ever heard of a government IT development that was more cost-effective than an equivalent commercial initiative? Neither have I!
There could be a number of reasons accounting for this sudden spate of job advertisements:
1. a pre-emptive strike on the BCG report
- give us the nod or get out of our way
2. crash or crash through
- all you knockers out there - pull your heads in
3. interfaces be blowed
- we are developing applications which will work
4. transition authority
- you must be joking - we are the authority - drop the transition
5. jurisdictions
- have their own problems - they are in a mess - we are leading the way
6. money’s not a problem
- we already have the jurisdiction’s money
7. WYSIWYG
- our original charter - suggests NEHA thought it could be a leading health software developer
8. Software developers
- itsy bitsy - you're all over the place - almost bust - look at iSoft
9. Support industry
- not on your nelly - we’d lose control - we’d prefer to employ your best people
10. Stop complaining
- no-one will hear you.
11. Big is beautiful - strong is better
- that's us - we're NEHTA and we're supported by Government
12. Your future
- what future - come work with us ‘the only game in town’
Business Analysts, Technical Analysts, Project Managers, Solutions Architects, Developers, Account Managers, Technical Writers, Policy Officers.
The above are all required to maintain NEHTA’s rapid growth! …………… rapid growth in what? ……….. in people silly. Word is that NEHTA now employs either directly or under contract well over 100 people. That’s a fivefold increase since Feb 2006 when DoHA’s HealthConnect project was wound down! So, that’s rapid growth.
And most of their people have Masters and PhD qualifications. Even the CEO, an ex Financial Review journalist, has a PhD in something. Pity there is so little expertise in software development and implementation in the health sector.
Heading towards implementation are many projects - says NEHTA. What specifically are these projects which are heading so rapidly towards implementation? And what are the delivery dates of these projects?
NEHTA says that suddenly there is a need to anticipate unprecedented staffing requirements. Unprecedented what? A need to anticipate! Do you get the feeling NEHTA is quite out of control, either at the top, or in the middle, or both?
NEHTA says it is looking for “high caliber” people. Is that the .303 or .202 calibre? What NEHTA should be looking for are smart people with lots of nous. And they can be found scattered around the health software vendor community. But the problem is, that the smart people will be asking a lot of perceptive questions and that could be quite embarrassing.
In the 18 months since Feb 2006 NEHTA has arisen like a phoenix from the ashes. It looks as though a new health software house is emerging to enter the fray. Government funded, but this time arms length removed.
Karen Dearne’s article in today’s Australian, E-Health review stays in-house, points to the way ahead. Staring into our crystal ball suggests we have much to look forward to - a good report card from BCG, followed by the announcement of a new HealthConnect type initiative under NEHTA’s direction, supported by AHIC and funded by Government. Is this another de ja vue moment for Australia’s HealthIT sector?
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