State says investment helps 'future-proof' said sector
As a commitment to ensure the safety of healthcare workers and the citizens, the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) government boasted that the health sector is the largest area of budget expenditure, based on ACT’s media release.
The media release stated that some of the government’s priorities include supporting the health care workforce with more workers and providing safer workplaces for the people.
Investments in the healthcare industry
According to the ACT government, it invested in 100 additional full-time equivalent (FTE) positions in 2022-23, which is now anticipated to grow more than 170 FTE in 2023-24.
“Through the investments in this year’s Budget, the Government will deliver on our commitment to employ 400 additional health care workers in this parliamentary term,” the government said in a media release.
“It is the most significant investment the ACT Government has ever made in hiring even more health care professionals to support the community and each other,” it added.
The government will also provide over $16mil to improve the allied health workforce and encourage more services after-hours, delivering more physiotherapists, social workers, and other allied health professionals.
“This investment will improve patient recovery, reduce hospital length of stay, improve emergency department performance and reduce readmission rates,” the government said.
Additionally, the government will invest $3mil to expand the Nurse Practitioner workforce at the five nurse-led Walk-in Centres to fulfill the government’s election commitment to make healthcare closer to homes.
Based on the media release, the budget also included over $7mil to support the workforce to prioritise psychosocial wellbeing and address occupational violence.
“This work will deliver the next step of the Nurses and Midwives: Towards a Safer Culture Strategy with a significant increase in resources to embed a positive safety culture across our health services,” the government said.
“Additionally, the Government is investing in the delivery of system-wide workforce planning and strategy development to ensure that the ACT Government, local universities and health services are well placed to identify and grow our health workforce now and into the future,” it added.
The government said it would also invest more than $50mil to support the implementation of the Digital Health Record and training of health service staff while reducing service disruption.
“The ACT Government is developing a further multi-year investment in health workforce wellbeing and recovery that will support our ACT public health workforce with the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic now and into the future,” the government said.
Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith noted to the public that the government would continue to work with staff and their unions to guarantee health services are safe places to work, and the sector could deliver high-quality care for Canberrans.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr likewise assured Canberrans that the government would continue to invest in the healthcare system as the city grows.
“We did it during the worst of the pandemic, and we will continue to do it into the future,” Barr said.
