If appropriately delivered, this plan - which includes 25,000 nursing and midwifery scholarships to the value of $16,500 per student, and 10,000 skill upgrade scholarships for current nurses and midwives – would contribute towards workforce sustainability in Victoria’s emergency departments (EDs) and help make EDs safer, for everyone.
The College encourages the Coalition to ensure that this election pledge is appropriately planned to deliver rural, regional, and remote areas with equitable workforce increases, as these areas are most significantly struggling with a lack of healthcare workers.
ACEM particularly welcomes the Coalition’s preelection promise to establish a Victorian Ministerial Health Workforce Council that would audit the healthcare workforce across Victoria and inform future workforce planning.
ACEM Victorian Chair Dr Belinda Hibble said, “Healthcare workforce shortages are one of the biggest issues facing emergency departments and the health system across Victoria. If delivered, the Coalition’s $325 million workforce training program would help support and restore Victoria’s depleted healthcare workforce and would help make EDs safer, for everyone.”
“The health crisis is a bipartisan issue and Victoria’s emergency doctors are pleased to see that health is firmly on the agenda, across the political spectrum, for the 2022 Victorian state election.”
“We encourage all parties contesting the election to continue to offer policies and investments that address the shortfalls in staff and resources in Victoria’s emergency departments. To ensure that the pledges are useful to the staff and patients on the frontline, ACEM urges all parties to work with the College, nurses and other health stakeholders in all future announcements related to the acute health system.”
The College has called on all political parties to commit to five measures that would help make Victorian emergency departments safer for everyone, including an appropriately trained security guard in every ED, 24/7.
Background:
ACEM is the peak body for emergency medicine in Australia and New Zealand, responsible for training emergency physicians and advancement of professional standards. www.acem.org.au
Media Contact:
ACEM Media Relations Manager Melissa Howard [email protected] + 61 427 621 857