The Minns Labor Government is investing $274 million to boost staffing at new and upgraded hospitals across the state that were left without adequate staff by the previous government, as part of the 2024-25 NSW Budget.
The Essential Health Services Fund will see an additional 250 healthcare workers engaged to work at these new and upgraded hospitals.
The additional staff will be deployed at hospitals due to come online in the next financial year and will deliver additional services to communities with growing and aging populations.
These include Prince of Wales and the new Tweed Hospital, as well as Bowral, Sutherland, Wentworth, Cowra, Cooma, Glenn Innes and Griffith.
Additional staff for Prince of Wales Hospital will support the new emergency department, intensive care unit and broader expansion of the hospital.
The newly-opened Tweed Hospital will receive additional health workers to deliver an expansion of overnight and day beds as well as an increase of emergency department and outpatient services.
Funding will also be provided across the state to increased demands from health services resulting from an ageing and growing population.
This investment will further the NSW Government’s existing initiatives to build an engaged, capable and supported workforce through:
- beginning to implement safe staffing levels,
- making 1112 temporary nurses permanent,
- delivering an extra 500 regional paramedics
- abolishing the wages cap; and
- introducing health worker study subsidies.
This is all part of the Minns Government’s plan to build a strong health workforce and improve access to quality care across the state.
Minister for Health Ryan Park said:
“I’ve always said that there’s no point in delivering shiny new buildings if you don’t have the staff to adequately run them.
“We can’t risk the situation left to us by the previous government of ‘ghost hospitals’ where funding was allocated for the bricks and mortar but not the additional health workers, nurses and doctors to operationalise services.
“For too long, the previous government underinvested in our health workers, and that left a workforce pushed to breaking point, and that had significant impacts that we still continue to see to this day.
“We need a fully-staffed healthcare system that is responsive and well-resourced, because when we back in our health workers, we improve patient outcomes, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”