Nurse and midwife HECS-HELP incentive scheme needs to be extended to private health care sector

The State Government’s HECS-HELP scheme for regional nurses and midwives needs to be expanded to include both the public and private sectors, according to Rural Health West chief executive Tim Shackleton. While the initiative has been welcomed, Mr Shackleton said the $12,000 grant scheme needed to not just be for public sector employees, but extended to include those choosing to work in the private sector as well. The $4.2 million of State Government funding, included in the May 11 budget, will be available for up to 350 recently qualified medical practitioners who start work in country WA in 2023-24. Mr Shackleton said the HECS-HELP scheme recognised the serious workforce challenges facing the rural health system but he was worried the private sector would be disadvantaged. “The State Government is to be commended for providing this investment in nurses and midwives because those working in the public health sector also provide much-needed care in local communities where the private system struggles to operate, often due to market failure,” Mr Shackleton said. “Nurses are essential for many rural and remote GP practices in providing the best possible primary health care and are potentially being disadvantaged in attracting staff without this scheme being extended to these practices and other allied health clinics. “There is growing unhealthy regional competition for health professionals around incentives and remuneration and this scheme, while welcome, has the potential to disadvantage one sector over the other.” Mr Shackleton said his agency would be seeking to engage with the State Government regarding the potential to extend it to community-based private sector providers. “Not only would extending the scheme result in more equitable outcomes across both the public and private primary health care systems, but it would also relieve pressure and stress on our regional hospitals,” he said. Premier Mark McGowan said HECS-HELP debts can be a significant burden for people at the start of their careers and, in many cases, take years to pay off. “This budget includes a range of new initiatives designed to ensure WA is well positioned in building a skilled workforce for the future,” Mr McGowan said. “Nurses, midwives and other healthcare workers are one of our top priorities.” Rural Health West is WA’s sole rural and remote primary health workforce and recruitment agency for GPs, nurses, midwives, dentists, and other allied health professionals. Workforce research by RHW showed the proportion of nurses and midwives for rural WA is 1 to 79 people compared with the metropolitan area of 1:74, which in the Goldfields increases to 1:94 and in the Wheatbelt 1:92. “What our research also shows is that nurses and nurse practitioners are absolutely essential for these communities because they provide such a diverse range of health services, which in larger population centres would be provided by other health professionals,” Mr Shackleton said. He said nurses and midwives were the largest group of rural and remote health professionals, comprising nearly 68 per cent of the workforce, but this cohort also represented the highest proportion of professionals intending to leave the sector. “What our data shows is that over the next five years, rural and remote health professional retirements are expected to increase from 1.4 per cent in the short term to nearly 10 per cent,” Mr Shackleton said. “Over the same time period, nurses and midwives represent the highest proportion of health professionals in rural and remote areas planning to retire (14.4 per cent) and report the lowest percentage (42.6 per cent) intending to remain in the sector.”