Methodology

Full-time equivalent (FTE) supply of health professionals

Data on the size and characteristics of any health or community service labour force presents a valuable profile of its workers, but do not give a picture of the overall level of service they provide. The actual supply of professionals can be measured by converting their hours worked into a 'full-time equivalent' (FTE) number of professionals. This is a useful measure of supply because it takes into account the number of hours worked by a given group of health or community service professionals. By defining supply in terms of FTE per 100,000 population, meaningful comparisons across jurisdictions, geographic regions and time can be made.

The number of full-time equivalent professionals equals the number of professionals multiplied by the average weekly hours worked, divided by the number of hours in a 'standard' full-time working week (see below). The 'typical' working week varies between occupations and so different 'standard' full-time weeks are used when calculating FTEs. For example, a 'standard' full time week for nurses is 35 hours, close to the average hours worked per week by nurses and what is considered 'standard' in many industries. However, for medical practitioners a full time week of 45 hours is used, which more closely reflects the working patterns of doctors and others in occupations where working hours are not set.

FTE  =    Number of professionals X Average weekly hours
                           Standard week (ie. 35 hours)

FTE rate  =   FTE X 100,000
                      Population