Short-term Regional, Rural and Remote employment program expanded
Source: Short-term Regional, Rural and Remote employment program expanded
Media Release: Minister for Regional Health
A highly successful regional, rural and remote deployment program for key health care roles is set to be expanded over the next three years, with NSW Health recruiting nurses, midwives and allied health professionals to be posted to short term placements across NSW.
The NSW Health Deployment Program was first established in May 2023 to create a pipeline of skilled health professionals for short-term roles.
The short-term positions of between two and 13 weeks offer healthcare professionals the opportunity to travel and work in regional, rural and remote parts of NSW they may never have visited, with accommodation and travel costs covered.
The NSW Government is currently seeking healthcare workers from more than 20 professions including nurses, midwives and allied health professionals for a range of short-term positions in hospitals and health facilities across NSW.
The initial success of the program so far has seen 90 staff undertake hundreds of deployments across the state in priority roles such as nursing, midwifery, occupational therapy, podiatry, speech pathology and physiotherapy.
NSW Health will now increase the team to around 400 to further strengthen its support to regional, rural and remote areas
Healthcare workers seeking a role with NSW Health, or current staff, are encouraged to register their interest via the NSW Health website.
The Minns Labor Government has introduced a series of measures to strengthen the state’s health workforce including:
Implementing the Safe Staffing Levels initiative in our emergency departments
Providing permanent funding for 1,112 FTE nurses and midwives on an ongoing basis
Abolishing the wages cap and delivering the highest pay increase in more than a decade for nurses and other health workers
Investing an additional $200.1 million in key worker accommodation
Beginning to roll out 500 additional paramedics in regional, rural and remote communities
Boosting subsidies for regional health workers.