Rebuilding Employment Services

This media release from the Tasmanian Government annouces its partnership with Flinders University to offer $540,000 in scholarships for staff to study a Certificate in palliative care or Specialist Certificate in palliative care. These courses take 10-13 weeks to complete, are available online, and are aimed at enrolled nurses, nursing aides, registered nurses, Allied Health Professionals, medical professionals, assistants and support workers.

In this analysis, we calculate the Full-time Equivalent (FTE) of AHPRA registration numbers for each professional category and compare the ratio and rate of FTE AHPRA Registered professionals per head of population in Australia.

This RACGP News article explores a new report for the government's Special Commission of Inquiry into Healthcare Funding. The report is co-authored by the NSW Chief Health Officer, Dr Kerry Chant, and it makes important observations regarding the current funding model - including its lack of funding for preventative health care strategies, and its inefficient support of innovative service delivery and the development of new models of care, especially out-of-hospital models of care.

This article, from the Sydney Morning Herald, looks at the nationwide shortage of pathologists and how this might be delaying pathology test results for patients. Workforce supply and workload could be improved by increasing the Medicare rebate for pathology services, by increasing funded Pathology training programs, and by adopting new technologies.