The Malinauskas Government will invest more than $37 million in the State Budget providing 60 extra doctors and nurses to deliver care at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
These extra staff include 48 more doctors, with 17 of them senior specialists, and 12 more nurses who will boost cancer and mental health care for children.
The extra funding for more staff in the State Budget will ease the critical workforce shortage at WCH and equip the hospital to provide the best care.
The 48 extra doctors will be recruited over a four-year period, with 10 more doctors starting this year and recruitment now underway in consultation with clinicians to determine the areas of most need.
These doctors will be recruited in areas such as cancer, cardiology, intensive care, respiratory, renal, dermatology, mental health and neurology, rheumatology and general paediatric medicine.
Funding for the 12 specialty nurses will start from July 2022 to meet the urgent need for additional paediatric support, with recruitment now underway.
The hospital was neglected by the former Government with workforce shortages causing significant delays for children who need treatment and appointments, and long delays in the emergency department.
For the first time the hospital experienced ambulance ramping last year due to lack of capacity and resourcing.
The Malinauskas Government has been listening to doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff, and the broader WCH community, and we understand that more resources are needed to provide care now and into the future for women and children.
At the election Labor committed to employing an extra 100 doctors and an extra 300 nurses to provide more care across the health system and relieve pressure on an under-resourced and stretched workforce.
SA Health has already begun a recruitment drive for extra nurses to work in the hospital system, launching a campaign to recruit new nurses last week – a month ahead of schedule.
Quotes
Attributable to Peter Malinauskas
I said I would lead a government which takes action to ease pressure on our hospitals – and in this State Budget we are be taking action to ensure there’s more doctors and nurses to provide care.
We have heard too many stories of delayed care for children.
Nothing is more important than ensuring that in critical areas such as children’s cancer and mental health that we have the resources we need for timely care.
More doctors and nurses will help to ease the pressure on the existing staff and provide children with the care that they need.
Attributable to Stephen Mullighan
We cannot wait for the new Women’s and Children’s Hospital, we must act now to ensure the existing hospital is adequately resourced to provide care.
This hospital was neglected by the former government and the new Malinauskas Labor Government is taking action.
Attributable to Chris Picton
The former Government failed to ensure that the WCH is resourced to provide services that are needed by SA families.
This $37 million funding boost is a massive injection in providing for timely care for our sickest children in the state.
