❓ Mr. Hughes asks about the government's strategy to address healthcare workforce shortages following a recent summit. The Minister responds by acknowledging the global challenge, highlighting WA's increased health FTE, and outlining collaborative efforts with federal government and stakeholders to improve workforce pipeline and flexibility.
AnsweredQoN 453Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
HEALTH —
WORKFORCE — RECRUITMENT
453. Mr M. HUGHES to the Minister for Health:
I
refer to the Cook Labor government's ongoing efforts to recruit
additional doctors and nurses across Western Australia.
(1) Can the
minister advise the house how the government's facilitation of a medical,
nursing and midwifery workforce summit yesterday will help boost WA Health's
workforce?
(2) Can the minister outline to the house how this
Labor government is working with the healthcare workforce to find
solutions to challenges facing the sector?
WORKFORCE — RECRUITMENT
453. Mr M. HUGHES to the Minister for Health:
I
refer to the Cook Labor government's ongoing efforts to recruit
additional doctors and nurses across Western Australia.
(1) Can the
minister advise the house how the government's facilitation of a medical,
nursing and midwifery workforce summit yesterday will help boost WA Health's
workforce?
(2) Can the minister outline to the house how this
Labor government is working with the healthcare workforce to find
solutions to challenges facing the sector?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Kalamunda
for the question.
(1)–(2) It
is not a surprise to anyone that we are facing a number of challenges in the
healthcare workforce. In fact, the whole world is experiencing shortages of
qualified healthcare workers—medical, nursing, allied health. A whole
range of professions are highly sought after. In WA Health, we have certainly
made excellent strides and moved forward, with a 30 per cent increase in our
health FTE since coming to government—a
30 per cent increase—which is significantly more than the growth of
under 1 000 FTE over the whole period of the former Liberal–National
government. The biggest investment that we can make in our healthcare system is
in those qualified healthcare workers, but the reality is that the
international shortage will be here for the foreseeable future. It is a globally
competitive market. The demand for healthcare workers in Australia is expected
to grow significantly over the next 20 years. Across the whole nation, by 2049,
there will be an FTE gap of 211 000 healthcare workers. That is across the nation.
It is a significant challenge that we will face. The member would know that the
WA Health workforce pipeline is not
controlled by one entity. It is a very complex landscape. The state government,
the federal government , medical colleges, unions, employers and
registration bodies such as the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation
Agency all have either a lever or a foot on the pipeline. The way we work
together will really demonstrate how we can move people in a safe way through
our healthcare system.
Thankfully, we have a federal
government that is absolutely committed to quality healthcare services and is
willing to acknowledge the challenge in front of us. The Albanese government
acted immediately when elected to tackle the
healthcare workforce issues by convening national cabinet and working through a range of those priorities. The first action it took was to appoint Robyn Kruk,
a highly regarded former public servant, to undertake a review of the health
practitioner regulatory settings. It is not a very sexy name, but it is very
important. She has come up with some really pragmatic recommendations for
regulators, training colleges and state governments on what action is needed,
including providing better flexibility on visa requirements and age limits;
expanding expedited pathways, including of medical specialists; and better
recognising the skills and experience of internationally trained practitioners.
Every state is going to have to do their bit to support the important work of
national cabinet and the priorities set by our national first ministers.
This workforce forum is the first of
a number of forums that we will be holding to really start tackling this issue.
It was a fantastic, constructive day of really good ideas, with everyone on the
same page and wanting the best health system that we can possibly have. We also
tackled WA Health as the employer of choice, and had honest and frank
conversations about the administrative burden on doctors, drawing on solutions
from the eastern states, and the need for greater flexibility in workplaces to
encourage more female doctors back into the workforce. Working in our public
hospitals is incredibly inflexible, so we are looking at innovative ways to
improve flexibility. We are also looking at how we support our nurses and
midwives to work to their full scope and at the way they are trained and the
way they want to be.
There will be more work done in this
space. Allied health is a key pillar of our healthcare services. I am looking
forward to the further round tables and to implementing some of the great ideas
we saw yesterday.
for the question.
(1)–(2) It
is not a surprise to anyone that we are facing a number of challenges in the
healthcare workforce. In fact, the whole world is experiencing shortages of
qualified healthcare workers—medical, nursing, allied health. A whole
range of professions are highly sought after. In WA Health, we have certainly
made excellent strides and moved forward, with a 30 per cent increase in our
health FTE since coming to government—a
30 per cent increase—which is significantly more than the growth of
under 1 000 FTE over the whole period of the former Liberal–National
government. The biggest investment that we can make in our healthcare system is
in those qualified healthcare workers, but the reality is that the
international shortage will be here for the foreseeable future. It is a globally
competitive market. The demand for healthcare workers in Australia is expected
to grow significantly over the next 20 years. Across the whole nation, by 2049,
there will be an FTE gap of 211 000 healthcare workers. That is across the nation.
It is a significant challenge that we will face. The member would know that the
WA Health workforce pipeline is not
controlled by one entity. It is a very complex landscape. The state government,
the federal government , medical colleges, unions, employers and
registration bodies such as the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation
Agency all have either a lever or a foot on the pipeline. The way we work
together will really demonstrate how we can move people in a safe way through
our healthcare system.
Thankfully, we have a federal
government that is absolutely committed to quality healthcare services and is
willing to acknowledge the challenge in front of us. The Albanese government
acted immediately when elected to tackle the
healthcare workforce issues by convening national cabinet and working through a range of those priorities. The first action it took was to appoint Robyn Kruk,
a highly regarded former public servant, to undertake a review of the health
practitioner regulatory settings. It is not a very sexy name, but it is very
important. She has come up with some really pragmatic recommendations for
regulators, training colleges and state governments on what action is needed,
including providing better flexibility on visa requirements and age limits;
expanding expedited pathways, including of medical specialists; and better
recognising the skills and experience of internationally trained practitioners.
Every state is going to have to do their bit to support the important work of
national cabinet and the priorities set by our national first ministers.
This workforce forum is the first of
a number of forums that we will be holding to really start tackling this issue.
It was a fantastic, constructive day of really good ideas, with everyone on the
same page and wanting the best health system that we can possibly have. We also
tackled WA Health as the employer of choice, and had honest and frank
conversations about the administrative burden on doctors, drawing on solutions
from the eastern states, and the need for greater flexibility in workplaces to
encourage more female doctors back into the workforce. Working in our public
hospitals is incredibly inflexible, so we are looking at innovative ways to
improve flexibility. We are also looking at how we support our nurses and
midwives to work to their full scope and at the way they are trained and the
way they want to be.
There will be more work done in this
space. Allied health is a key pillar of our healthcare services. I am looking
forward to the further round tables and to implementing some of the great ideas
we saw yesterday.
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