: Interview Questions for 3 managements in Rumailah, Alkhor and Alwakra hospitals all of them under Hamad Medical Corporation umbrella

: Interview Questions for 3 managements in Rumailah, Alkhor and Alwakra hospitals all of them under Hamad Medical Corporation umbrella Interviewee 1: Executive director of rehabilitation in Rumailah hospital 1. What are some of the challenges that physiotherapists face? • Lack of recognition for physiotherapy profession from community (they didn’t understand it and when they come they get shocked with the variety of treatment that we have, no respect from people for our service, it is not popular profession in the country specially from Qatari people due to low income. • No continues educational program, we don’t have physiotherapy collage in Qatar to train and develop physiotherapists to ensure continues development, we have professional development for Qatari staff they can take sponsorship from their organization to study abroad but even though the number of Qatari staff is very low • Shortage of staff lead to increase work load this is due to budget limitation and Qatar labour market is less attractive than other gulf countries like KSA and UAE (payment package offer) • Organization system we have 2 type of contract the local contract for non-Qatari born in Qatar and live with their families the hospital didn’t give them house(rent) they only give housing allowance and always rent expense more than the allowance they give, they didn’t have annual tickets and the hospital didn’t cover children school fees and we have non-local contract the hospital take all rent expense, they have annual ticket and kids school fees covered by hospital. • HR policy very old and need to be revised again to adapt the new changes. • We should have physiotherapists union to regulate the practice in the country 2. How do you think these challenges affect the employees’ performance? Yes it affect level of performance, no motivation and supervisors noticed when they started to do training courses (staff pay the majority of courses fees) the performance improved 3. What do you think is the main reasons why most physiotherapists working in this department choose to leave to other organizations or countries? • Many reasons majority of them leave because of better payment offers • Better work condition less working hours and less work load this is more applicable for Qatari staff • Some leave because of family reasons like their kids want to continue their education abroad • Some self-initiative to develop their self and continue study (non-Qatari can’t work and study) 4. Do you think the education and training that most physiotherapists receive in Qatar is sufficient? Explain your answers. No, need to change career framework for physiotherapy to establish intensive educational program 5. What measures has the organization put in place to ensure that these challenges are handled? Physiotherapy department in Rumailah hospital planning with Qatar University to open collage of physiotherapy and rehabilitation, it will start in 2018 by opening the collage they will ensure continuous flow of new Qatari and non-Qatari graduate also, exchange expertise from both hospital and university train the student in governmental hospitals under supervision of physiotherapist and continuous educational program will be more easy and available to all physiotherapist 6. What is your general opinion on the challenges that physiotherapists face and how they affect their performance and intention to leave? If physiotherapist aware of these challenges then they can work more on themself and help use to improve it. Physiotherapist should work on community awareness and we need to create physiotherapy association to regulate physiotherapy practice in Qatar At the end challenges are affecting by demotivate staff and it is the main cause of leave. Interviewee 2: Head of physiotherapy in Rumailah hospital 1. What are some of the challenges that physiotherapists face? • Stress came from continuous education and changing in new technology always as physiotherapists you need to practice if you didn’t then you will lost your skills • Physiotherapy is mentally exhausting and physically exhausting profession for long term • Demand on service and workload increasing • Therapists should take fair salary similar like others with same qualifications (discrepancy) and this make another stress on therapists when they see others with less qualifications and less work load and working hours they take better salary than them • Stress came from disable patients therapist give a lot for small changes, disability is burden • Talented and expert physiotherapist not recognize from hospital they didn’t have tracking system to know them they should go and talk about themself to get fair grade and salary • Ethics, some managers has low ethics and it affect work flow like departments budgets and promotions. They took things personally and that affect employee’s performance if the department didn’t have enough budget then the head will not be able to recruit new staff and replace the resigned staff. Ethics differ across specialities and affect organization, employee rights and patient rights • Employee in HMC feel job safe and secure , lack of competition so employee didn’t improve and work on himself and the result no innovation in work place • Some physiotherapist mentally resist change and they didn’t like to improve them self through education, some of them attend training course, but they didn’t use the skills they learned from course. • Most of our staff are expatriates we train them and after they become expert they left the organization this affect the organization reputation 2. How do you think these challenges affect the employees’ performance? Yes, we notice that increase in salary improve employee performance 3. What do you think is the main reasons why most physiotherapists working in this department choose to leave to other organizations or countries? Better opportunity more salary, less work time or family issue better future for their kids or study 4. Do you think the education and training that most physiotherapists receive in Qatar is sufficient? Explain your answers. Not sufficient, we didn’t have collage of PT or PT association to take continuous education responsibility; a staff depends on himself to improve his skills and knowledge. For Qatari staff if the staff aware of his benefits the HMC support him and send him abroad to attend course, conference or to continue postgraduate study, but if staff not aware of his benefits then we didn’t have system to do it for him. Now a days training improved some staff organize training they bring expertise from Canada, UK , US and Australia to do courses , but the problem that HMC has long process to give approval for one course also number of courses and allocated budget are limited, so staff should pay part of fees and sometimes staffs pay all fees 5. What measures has the organization put in place to ensure that these challenges are handled? • New physiotherapy collage in Qatar university will ensure flow of new graduate, especially Qatari workforce it has many advantages one of them the competition will increase among physiotherapist and they will work more to develop their knowledge and skills and work together towards innovation and change old mentality. • Will solve shortage of staff. • Will ensure continues professional development. 6. What is your general opinion on the challenges that physiotherapists face and how they affect their performance and intention to leave? To create better opportunity change should come first from staff himself to change mentality and to invest on himself. Interviewee 3: Alkhor hospital CEO 1. What are some of the challenges that physiotherapists face? • Some physiotherapists are not good representative to their profession, they give judgment for other things not related to their field for example, patient go to PT as planned , PT see patient file and see medicine prescribed from physician then asked patient to cancel some medication then patient went to his doctor and told him my therapist asked me to stop taking medication after that a conflict happened between same therapist and the doctor • Lack of communication between physician and physiotherapist and team work each one of them work independently , they should understand how to work as a member of team • Lack of proper documentation from some physiotherapist act as a brier towards team work and communications • New technology like clinical health system (cerner) faced by resistant from most of staff • Segregation female therapists only treat female and male therapists only treat male because of cultural issues, some time we face shortage of staff in male therapists and surplus in female therapists in same department but we can’t use them to cover the shortage • Ethical issue in government hospital some therapist accept money (under table) from patients to treat them well and give them the priority in appointments and treatment. • Consistency HR should do it for all therapists working on same grads, sometime payment for one staff more than the others in same position and when other staff knows about it they become demotivated. • Live cost increasing and affect employee performance 2. How do you think these challenges affect the employees’ performance? Yes 3. What do you think is the main reasons why most physiotherapists working in this department choose to leave to other organizations or countries? • Financial reasons is the main reason because of high living cost in Qatar and organization payment system is not improving for example when employee reach to selling of the grade this means payment will not improve further he will continue with same salary. • Work environment if it is not comfortable then staff will choose to leave and opposite if it is comfortable even if the payment still not good then he will chose to stay 4. Do you think the education and training that most physiotherapists receive in Qatar is sufficient? Explain your answers. No not sufficient, especially internal programs management should try to push for quality of education and training courses 5. What measures has the organization put in place to ensure that these challenges are handled? • Management trying to work as a team to overcome obstacles and provide good support on facility level for same hospital staff. • Encourage staff to do prober documentation by workshops • Establish good communication between all care providers through multidisciplinary team to improve physiotherapist performance 6. What is your general opinion on the challenges that physiotherapists face and how they affect their performance and intention to leave? All the challenges I mentioned previously are demotivating employees and affect their performance and if they have better opportunity they may leave their jobs. Some employees will stay if the work environment is good no conflict with their managers. Because if there is a conflict with direct manager the employee will leave the work, but if payment is less than other places most employees stay and hope in the future payment may improve. Interviewee 4: physiotherapy supervisors (7) from Rumailah, alkhor and Wakra hospitals: 1. What are some of the challenges that physiotherapists face? • Continues education is mandatory and some times staff financial reasons may stop him from do it. (4 of them) • New technology, some companies provide us with training on how to operate it (all of them) • Lack of good communication with other specialities to facilitate our work (4 supervisors) • When we have supportive service shortage (clerk, technician and aids) physiotherapists has to do all work by himself and it is time consuming for both therapists and patients (all of them) • Discrepancy, some patients prefer one nationality over others to do treatment for them this will create more load on some therapists more than others and it will affect other therapist`s feel (empathy from therapists to patients) (2) • Shortage of space and facilities (5) • Accountability of some therapist (all) • Workload is increasing (all) • Organizational structure (centralization) and contracts still fixed and not changing, also career pathway is not clear for therapists (5) • Referral system patient has to see physician to see physiotherapist it is put more financial cost on patient and time wasting in other country like Us and Australia the patient can come direct to see therapist (5) • Profession recognition (physiotherapy) from both patients and organizations (all) • Lack of rewards (all) • recently a lot of retirement happened but no new staff replacement this create a lot of shortage and recruiting process take a lot of time around 8 months • Labour market very rigid (all) 2. How do you think these challenges affect the employees’ performance? Yes (all) 3. What do you think is the main reasons why most physiotherapists working in this department choose to leave to other organizations or countries? (all supervisors agreed on same answer) • Payments offers most of them • Families issue • Continue postgraduate education • Better working condition 4. Do you think the education and training that most physiotherapists receive in Qatar is sufficient? Explain your answers. No but for some specialities like orthopaedic physiotherapy they are able to organize courses every year (3 supervisors) , but the problem that not all of staff are able to attained because of limited seats , family responsibilities and financial reasons (6) For some specialities like paediatric and neurology course are very rare (4) We didn’t have physiotherapy association or collage to control and regulate the training and courses (all) 5. What measures has the organization put in place to ensure that these challenges are handled? To work as physiotherapist you should pass the exam and get license and the license system has points each therapist has to collect it during the year so it is mandatory to attained number of courses and conferences during the year this motivate staff to get new knowledge and develop them self (all same answer) We as physiotherapist working on recognition of our profession through advertisement about our profession (3 supervisors) 6. What is your general opinion on the challenges that physiotherapists face and how they affect their performance and intention to leave? We can overcome all challenges by open communication starting from organization to department head to supervisors and staff (5) The core is physiotherapists they are part of the problem they should understand how to improve themselves first and feels some responsibilities (all) Whatever the challenges it shouldn’t affect outcome to patients (all) PT has to understand patients’ needs and they should practice the knowledge they learned (all) I went to Hamad Medical Corporation HR department and I took list of resigned physiotherapist’s names since 2006 till 2016 then I asked supervisors and contact some colleague through my email [email protected] to know the real reason: 1. Qatari female PT resigned 2008 ____________better offer (payment and less working hours) then changed her profession 2. Qatari PT female with PHD 2007___________better offer (payment) and work condition management position 3. Qatari female PT 2008______________ work as PT better work conditions (less working hours and less work load) same payment 4. Qatari female PT 2008_____________ work as PT better work conditions (less working hours and less work load) same payment 5. Qatari female PT 2006 __________ work as PT better payment and offer less working hours and less work load. 6. Qatari female PT 2007__________ better offer and changed her profession 7. Qatari female PT 2006 _________ family issues (housewife) not working 8. Qatar female PT 2009__________ family issues (housewife) not working 9. Qatari female PT 2011_________ family issues, not working 10. Qatari female PT 2008 _________ changed her profession (flexible working hours) 11. Non Qatari female PT 2006 _______ family issues &work place conflict, work as PT her own home business in Qatar 12. Non Qatari female PT 2006_______ better offer in UK work as PT 13. Non Qatari female PT 2012_______ better offer in UAE work as PT 14. Non Qatari female PT 2012_______ better offer in Canada work as PT 15. Non Qatari female PT 2011_________ US better offer work as PT 16. Non Qatari female PT 2013 _________ better offer and work condition less working hours work as PT in Qatar 17. Non Qatari female PT 2010_________family issues, work as PT home service in Qatar 18. Non Qatari male PT with Master 2013_____ US better offer work as PT 19. Non Qatari male PT 2011_________US better offer work as PT 20. Non Qatari male PT 2013________ better offer and work condition less working hours work as PT in Qatar 21. Non Qatari male PT 2011________ better offer and work condition less working hours work as PT in Qatar 22. Non Qatari male PT 2012_______better offer UAE 23. Non Qatari male PT 2013_______better offer US 24. Non Qatari male PT 2014_______continue postgraduate study 25. Non Qatari male PT 2015_______family issues to continue his kids education in US