A New Year always brings thoughts of new beginnings, resolutions of a fresh start and if this includes an international move for you this year, have a chat to us about how we can help.
The year gone by was certainly a busy year in terms of news and changes and we thought that it was a timely point to reflect on some of these events.
In Medicine the imposition of a new contract for junior doctors in England grabbed headlines throughout the year and the resulting strikes divided public opinion and furthered the schism between the medical community on the one hand and the government (led by Secretary for State of Health, Jeremy Hunt) on the other. There is now an even greater mistrust between the two parties on the future of the NHS and this was compounded later in the year by government cuts to the Social Care budget which has placed increased pressure on Hospitals. The further moves towards a 7-day service is only likely to spread precious resources ever thinner and lead to further unhappiness for working doctors over coming years.
In Politics, 2016 was a landmark year which saw the Brexit poll David Cameron had promised as part of his re-election manifesto go unexpectedly against the government as UK voters opted to leave the EU with a marginal result of 52% in favour. This led to a prime ministerial resignation and a short battle in the Conservative party for control which saw Theresa May take office, all whilst the Labour party fought itself for control which eventually was won by Jeremy Corbyn.
Further earth shattering news came in November when the USA went to the polls and opted to elect early rank outsider Donald Trump to be their 45th President. He will take office early this year with his Republican party holding a majority in all of the houses leaving a clear road for him to implement any policy decisions he feels are appropriate in the future.
In Australia, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull decided to call an early election after his bill was rejected twice by the senate leading to the longest election in Australia history which saw him be re-elected as the country’s Prime Minister, a decision which took 8 days to decide after voting closed. This was a controversial decision as saw his Liberal party losing 11 seats but still able to cling on to a majority rule.
Headline news in New Zealand at the end of 2015 into March 2016 saw a referendum on the New Zealand flag. There has been a historical debate as to whether the flag should be amended to reflect New Zealand’s Maori population along with other ethnic groups. With the Treaty of Waitangi and Maori heritage it is argued the flag ignores a significant part of New Zealand’s culture. There were two referendums, one late 2015 to decide the design of the alternate proposal and the final one in March 2016 which resulted in a 52% decision to retain the current design.
The world of music and entertainment has seen an unprecedented number of deaths throughout the year of 2016 and it seemed like turning on the news most days would result in the announcement of the loss of yet another national treasure. Whilst there are clearly too many celebrities to mention them all by name we feel it important to mention the likes of David Bowie, George Michael, Terry Wogan, Alan Rickman, Carrie Fischer, Prince, Paul Daniels, Gene Wilder & Ronnie Corbett to name but a few. On a happier note, Leonardo DiCaprio finally won a best actor Oscar for the Revenant. The Adele juggernaut continued unabated to break records for album sales, win awards and she even headlined Glastonbury in the summer.
In sport the premier league threw up a huge surprise when Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester City defied the odds (reported as 5000-1 at the start of the season) to lift title in 2015/16. The British Olympic team became the first team in history to produce an even bigger medal haul in the games delivering 67 medals. This included Gold for Andy Murray who had a bumper year regaining his Wimbledon title and finishing 2016 as world number one and retaining his Sports Personality of the Year award. Christiano Ronaldo also regained his Ballon D’ Or title after guiding Real Madrid to Champions League success and Portugal Euros 2016 success last year.
Here at Transition Medical it’s been a fantastic year of finding new positions for clients throughout Australia and New Zealand and we look forward to bringing in a new member of staff with expertise in managing your application process allowing us to focus on helping more clients find their dream job and a brand new life down under.
We have never been busier with practices in Australia and New Zealand wanting to recruit GPs!
