Healthcare workers are taking up incentives to move to Tweed, or stay in our community, with more than 4,700 workers accessing the program which is future proofing healthcare in rural and regional NSW.
Member for Tweed Geoff Provest MP said the NSW Liberal and Nationals Government’s $883 million regional health workforce incentive scheme is making a real difference in Tweed.
“Over 550 of these employees have been retained at Tweed Hospital alone. This includes more than 410 registered nurses and 12 clinical nurse specialists, 42 enrolled nurses, 47 registered midwives plus two clinical midwife specialists.
“Most importantly, this package is helping us retain the dedicated, hardworking staff who are already valued members of our community. These people call Tweed home and we are doing our best to make sure it continues to be their forever home.”
“Since the scheme begun a further 10 new nurses and a midwife have also begun at the Tweed Hospital.”
Announced as part of the 2022-23 NSW Budget, the $883 million incentive scheme targets critical and hard-to-fill roles including nurses and midwives, pharmacists, allied health professionals and pathologists as well as support and ancillary staff.
Hard-to-fill, critical roles in rural and remote locations can be incentivised by offering health workers recruitment and retention incentive packages worth up to $10,000 per annum plus up to $10,000 in other incentives.
Incentives can include a range of benefits, such as a salary boost, sign-on bonuses, additional leave, professional development, study leave and assistance, assistance with childcare expenses, assistance with transport and housing support, and access to training and education.
In addition to the incentive package, a range of targeted measures are being funded which will support the NSW Government in building a pipeline of future nurses, doctors and
other clinical staff who are based in the bush and have the skills, confidence and expertise needed to work in regional health care facilities.
The $883 million incentives investment includes funding for:
- Tailored incentive programs for healthcare staff to take up and retain positions in regional, rural and remote NSW – which can include a tailored incentive package of up to $10,000 plus additional leave, relocation reimbursement, professional development and study assistance;
- Increased training positions for nursing graduates, nurse practitioners and medical interns;
- Expanding rural generalist and procedural training positions;
- Career development and secondment opportunities for healthcare workers based in regional, rural and remote NSW, including for those based in metropolitan areas to ‘try out’ working in regional NSW;
- Increased numbers of Aboriginal nurse cadetships, and
- HECS incentive package for allied health professionals.