The Queensland Nurses and Midwives' Union (QNMU) says health recruitment and training initiatives announced by the Health Minister yesterday were long overdue given the current workforce crisis.

QNMU Secretary Kate Veach said nurses and midwives are exhausted and are concerned for their patients.

“We welcome the government’s announcement to allow young Queenslanders to access free TAFE for 13 health courses from 2024, including a Diploma of Nursing, and expand the First Nations Deadly Start school-based traineeship program from 200 to 400 places,” said Ms Veach.

“We are also pleased to hear about the new youth recruitment campaign to promote careers in the public health sector, including nursing and midwifery.

“Nurses and midwives are the backbone and constant presence in our health system. We want to be more involved in decisions being made about our health services and our communities. We have the solutions, we just need to be listened to,” she said.

Ms Veach said the QNMU will eagerly respond to the draft Health Workforce Strategy for Queensland to 2032, released by the government yesterday.

The draft strategy promises to deliver sustained increases in health workforce supply through the establishment of new health workforce supply channels and the enhancement of existing ones, as well as contemporary approaches to job and workforce design to support innovative, responsive, technology-integrated models of care.

Ms Veach said the government’s announcement yesterday of $7 million for a trial allowing regional trainee doctors to be employed by Queensland Health whilst also working in private GP clinics and incentives of up to $70,000 to recruit interstate and overseas doctors and health workers fell short of the vision for the new Health Workforce Strategy.

“Yesterday’s funding announcement failed to acknowledge opportunities for nurse and midwife-led models or other multi-disciplinary models to be implemented in regions of need,” Ms Veach said.

“As frontline healthcare professionals, our QNMU members are extremely concerned that the shortage of GPs continues to put more and more pressure on already, overburdened hospital EDs.

“This is why the government must look at sustainable, care-delivery models which capitalise on the skill sets of all health workers. We look forward to further discussions with government on these evidence-based models.

“Nurse and midwife-led clinics, utilising the skills and expertise of highly-trained nurse practitioners and midwives, would ensure that Queenslanders, particularly those in regional, remote and under-serviced urban areas, have access to quality and affordable healthcare when and where they need it.

“Nurses and midwives represent the largest occupational group within the health system and therefore have more potential to quickly grow the workforce at a time of chronic doctor shortages.”

Ms Veach said nurse and midwife-led clinics could provide communities with a range of prevention, education, intervention and wellness care services delivered via nurses and midwives, in collaboration with other medical and allied health practitioners, providing extended-hours services and provide an alternative to presenting to hospital EDs.

QNMU media contact: 0411 254 390.