Dynamics of indicators of staffing and qualifications of doctors of the diagnostic service of St. Petersburg in 2013–2023.

Analysis of the staffing and qualifications of diagnostic service doctors are of crucial importance for improving the quality and accessibility of medical care to the population, rational distribution of resources, implementation of innovative technologies and formation of a successful healthcare development strategy. Objective: to assess the dynamics of the staffing and qualifications of doctors of the diagnostic service of St. Petersburg in 2013–2023. Materials and methods. The statistical digests of the Federal Research Institute for Health Organization and Informatics of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation for 2014–2024 were used as the basic material. A comparative assessment of the indicators of the provision of the population with doctors and the proportion of diagnostic service doctors with the qualification category of a metropolis with indicators for the country and the Northwestern Federal District was carried out. The significance of differences between the indicators was assessed using Student’s t-test. Differences were considered significant at p<0.05. Statistical data processing was carried out using MS Office‑2019 software packages. Results. In the period 2013–2023, the provision of radiologists, ultrasound diagnostics doctors, functional diagnostics doctors and clinical laboratory diagnostics doctors in St. Petersburg significantly exceeds the national and district averages (p<0.05). There are significant differences in the dynamics of the provision of doctors in individual diagnostic areas. The most significant and statistically confirmed was the increase in the provision of the metropolis population with radiologists (p<0.05). The indicators of provision with X-ray endovascular, ultrasound and functional diagnostics doctors demonstrated a moderate but stable increase (p>0.05). Only the provision with clinical laboratory diagnostics doctors showed a negative trend of decline (p>0.05). Even though the share of doctors with qualification categories in St. Petersburg is higher than the national and federal district averages, there are stable negative trends in the decline in the share of qualified specialists in almost all main specialties, except for X-ray endovascular diagnostics doctors. Conclusion. Despite the higher than average provision of medical personnel and indicators of their qualifications in the country and the Northwestern Federal District, the system of providing specialized personnel to the diagnostic service of St. Petersburg has significant reserves for improvement.