However, the College advises that more comprehensive and ongoing support, as determined through collaboration with healthcare stakeholders, is needed to ensure genuine workforce sustainability.
The New South Wales Government’s package, on the 6th of June, followed by the Victorian Government’s package yesterday, both include a range of measures, including financial, aimed at supporting the existing healthcare workforce. The College thanks the NSW and VIC governments for recognising the critical importance of focussing on supporting the existing workforce and believes these respective measures will boost morale of clinical healthcare workers, and other non-clinical staff working in roles critical to functioning of the health system. ACEM believes that the measures may also see improvements to workforce retention.
The healthcare workforce emergency has been broadly publicised in recent months, with healthcare workers reported to be leaving the sector, often due to burnout and stress linked to . ACEM’s members inform the College that, while all areas of the health system are experiencing this issue, there is a particular concern at the number of senior nursing staff leaving. The College stresses that, like other systemic issues, the COVID-19 pandemic did not cause the workforce issue, it merely worsened and exposed it.
Solutions that can support healthcare workers should include investments and policies that allow highly trained health professionals to be as effective in their roles as possible. These solutions can include an increase in the administrative, cleaning and orderly workforce, allowing a reduction in clerical and clinical support tasks for highly-trained clinical staff, and the implementation or expansion of waiting room concierges to support people while they are waiting for care.
Ensuring genuine will require a nationwide, interdisciplinary and coordinated approach, undertaken as part of broader health reform. The College is for the federal government to lead stakeholders in nationwide health reform, and looks forward to collaborating with governments, and other key stakeholders across the entire health system, to resolve the healthcare emergency.
ACEM President Dr Clare Skinner said, “Healthcare workers are the most important part of the health system. When a clinician leaves the workforce prematurely, more pressure is placed on other staff – who then also reach burnout and reduce their hours to cope, or leave, too. It is a vicious cycle. Staff leaving also deprives new cohorts of the ability to learn from their years of on-the-ground expertise.”
“While it is important to recruit and train our future healthcare staff, it is crucial that we support our highly specialised medical workforce, and other workers critical to the functioning of our health system, to remain in the sector.”
“The measures announced by the NSW and VIC governments aimed at supporting healthcare workers has provided us with a morale boost and could help improve retention. Most importantly, it has started the important conversation we need to have, which is, how do we genuinely support the healthcare workers who support Australians when they need it the most?”
“Australia’s emergency doctors stand ready to work with the government and other health stakeholders to fix the health system, and ensure that everyone gets the care they need, when and where they need it – and this includes ensuring we provide better support to healthcare workers.”
Background:
ACEM is the peak body for emergency medicine in Australia and New Zealand, responsible for training emergency physicians and advancement of professional standards.
