Nurses and Midwives

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (15:00): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. Minister, how is the government planning on boosting the nursing and midwifery workforce in preparation for living with COVID-19 outbreaks once we open interstate borders?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:01): I thank the honourable member for his question. The Marshall Liberal government's strong COVID-19 response has protected local jobs and kept South Australians safe. As we safely transition to the next phase of our COVID-19 plan we are massively expanding the capacity of our health system by adding hundreds of extra beds and recruiting hundreds of extra nurses.

Our COVID-ready plan will ensure the state is ready to reopen once our vaccination rates mean that we can do so safely. Positive cases in the community will gradually increase, but a lower proportion of cases will need hospitalisation because the majority of South Australians will be vaccinated. Being vaccinated means the impact of COVID is likely to be much less.

We are making sure that our health system will be ready to cope. One priority initiative in the Marshall Liberal government's COVID-ready plan is boosting the SA Health workforce by an additional 1,200 nurses and midwives in an unprecedented health staff expansion. That means every graduate from this year's nursing and midwifery classes in South Australian universities who has applied and is eligible to work for SA Health will be offered employment.

We usually recruit around 600 nurses and midwives to SA Health each year. This year, we will be recruiting around double that. The Marshall Liberal government is acting to secure an appropriately skilled and experienced nursing and midwifery workforce to meet the anticipated demand for COVID-19 cases when we reopen our borders. South Australians can rest assured that we are determined that they will be able to get the care they need when they need it.

The graduate nurses and midwives will be upskilled under a specially developed education and training program which will see their qualifications fast-tracked and new staff entering the COVID-19 frontline gradually from mid December. The first intake in December will support our hardworking nurses and midwives during the Christmas-New Year period, particularly helping existing staff to take a well-earned break. I would like to reiterate the thanks of the government for the existing workers, who have taken a significant burden in the last 18 months.

The $7 million investment in the SA Health nursing and midwifery skills and training strategy will ensure that each graduate nurse and midwife recruited receives the necessary training and clinical supervision. That is a $7 million investment in our health workforce.

The huge boost comes on top of the recruiting drive for 370 nursing positions that the Marshall Liberal government has already announced. These positions will target priority roles in emergency departments, intensive care units and mental health while also supporting the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine.

There are more frontline health staff in South Australia than ever before. The health workforce has grown every year under the Marshall Liberal government. We want to grow that number even further to support the state's COVID-19 response.

Crucially, as we pass the peak of the vaccination program, we will be in a position to transfer health workers from the vaccine effort and dedicate more healthcare staff to hospitals and other COVID response roles. The Marshall Liberal government continues to deliver a COVID response to keep South Australia safe and strong.