Free university degrees and job security are front and centre of Labor’s plan for a Better Future for our health workers.
We know that after 10 years of a Liberal Government, our hardworking healthcare workers are at breaking point.
In addition to the Immediate Action Plan, Labor will directly target support at the people who are critical to running a robust health service – nurses, doctors and paramedics.
To encourage more people to choose a career as a nurse, doctor or paramedic, or continue to help them work in the profession, Labor will:
- Make 500 health workers permanent. Up to 25 per cent of doctors, nurses, midwives, allied health staff and support staff are on short-term contracts. A Labor Government will provide job security to the key workers who are the backbone of our health service.
- Pay university fees and clinical placements of 200 new nursing and midwifery graduates who commit to work in the Tasmanian health or education service for 3 years. If the initiative is proven to support recruitment, the program will be extended over the term to recruit a total of 800 new nurse and midwife graduates in our health system.
- Pay the university fees of 50 allied health graduates who commit to work in Tasmanian health or education services for 3 years. If the initiative is proven to support recruitment, the program will be extended over the term to recruit a total of 200 new allied health graduates in our health and education systems.
- Pay the university fees of 40 paramedic graduates for students who commit to work in Tasmania’s health system for 3 years. If the initiative is proven to support recruitment, the program will be extended to recruit a total of 160 new paramedics to our health system over the term.
- Employ an additional 30 nurse practitioners around the state, which includes a package of paying for clinical practice and education costs for the masters qualification. This is on top of our commitment to employ 90 nurse practitioners at local hospitals in rural and regional areas.
- Add a childcare centre to the master plans of Tasmania’s three public hospitals – the Royal Hobart Hospital, Launceston General Hospital and North West Regional Hospital - to support health workers work participation and flexible hours.
- Introduce safe staffing models by working with nurses and midwives over the term of government.
In total, free degrees for health workers will cost $5.8 million in the first year. Paid clinical placements will cost $1m/pa, 30 additional nurse practitioners will cost $4.5m/pa with upskill packages costing $900k.
Quotes attributable to Labor Leader Rebecca White MP:
After 10 years of the Liberals, workforce challenges within the Tasmanian health sector have reached crisis point, with stories of high turnover, worker burnout and stress all too common.
Our health system relies on people – nurses, doctors, midwives, paramedics, allied health and support staff. If we don’t look after them, they can’t look after us.
Dedicated health professionals have carried the burden of our health system for too long. The best thing we can do is support them with more nurses, midwives and allied health staff.
Every week a plane load of young people leaves our state. We must encourage them to stay in Tasmania to ensure we have the health workers necessary to give people the care they need, when and where they need it.
Quotes attributable to Anita Dow MP:
It is critical we have a government that listens to our health workers so we can deliver a standard of healthcare that Tasmanians deserve.
We want Tasmania to be an attractive place for our health professionals to study and work in. That is why we have launched this incentive package to deliver job security, pay university fees and develop safe staffing models to ensure we continue attracting health workers to the state.
After 10 years of the Liberals, the problems in healthcare are getting worse and worse. The Liberals never listened to our health workers. Tasmanians shouldn’t give them 14 years.
Labor’s health policies announced to date include:
- Employ an additional 168 paramedics by 2032.
- Create a $45 million infrastructure fund for ambulance station and vehicle upgrades.
- 8 new community paramedic hubs statewide.
- 20 new beds for the LGH by mid-2025, new elective surgery centre for the North by the end of 2026.
- Progress major hospital redevelopments will be our highest priority for Federal Government funding in our first term, working with them to deliver these projects sooner.
- Employ 32 new hospital flow staff.
- Double Hospital in the Home beds to care for elderly patients.
- Expand the Mental Health Emergency Response Service statewide.
- Offer 500 university scholarships each year to support UTAS students struggling to afford to go to university ($7.5 million).
- Expand the Rural Medical Workforce Centre to incorporate nurse practitioner training.
- Review Community Nursing/CHaPS salary rates for parity with other staters and to support retention in these roles.
- Rule out the GP payroll tax – preventing Tasmanians from paying a further $15-20 when they visit their GP.
Labor’s $103 million Regional Health Plan
- Create a $60 million local hospital upgrade fund for 18 local regional hospitals.
- Employ an additional 215 (including 90 nurse practitioners) local hospital health workers to work in local hospitals.
- Pay the university fees of 150 health workers who agree to work in local hospitals for 3 years in rural and regional Tasmania.
- Upgrade 6 regional ambulance stations to 24/7 coverage, with 21 new paramedics.
- Resource 23 Community Health Centres across Tasmania with 46 extra nurses.
- Provide free health checks with community nurses for eligible Tasmanians.
- Provide additional palliative care community nursing, allowing more patients to stay at home or be discharged early from hospital.
Rebecca White MP
Tasmanian Labor Leader
Anita Dow MP
Shadow Minister for Health