THE NSW Government pledged to strengthen health care in rural and regional NSW following the publication of the findings and recommendations of the NSW parliamentary inquiry.
Hearing directly from rural and regional communities, patients, families and health-care workers, Minister for Regional Health Bronnie Taylor said the inquiry had shone a light where it needed to.
“Implementing bold new measures to attract key health workers to work in our regional health facilities and retaining that workforce will be a key focus of mine,” Mrs Taylor said.
“Everything is on the table when it comes to improving health outcomes in rural and regional NSW.”
Balranald Multipurpose Service (MPS) is one of NSW’s rural facilities that has felt the impact of the recent lack of health workers.
“On 13 April 2022, due to a number of registered nurse vacancies, the Balranald MPS implemented a temporary change to its acute inpatient services, in which any patient requiring acute care and admission to the ward would be transferred to Swan Hill,” a Far West Local Health District (LHD) spokesperson said.
“Any operational changes are carefully assessed and implemented with consideration to impacts on the community and on the safety of patients and staff.”
Despite the temporary closure, no Balranald acute patients needed to be transferred to Swan Hill, and services resumed normal operations on May 2 after the vacant registered nurse positions were backfilled with agency staff.
“Far West LHD is committed to maintaining and improving the delivery of high-quality health care at Balranald MPS,” the spokesperson said.
“The LHD is actively recruiting to fill its registered nurse vacancies in a challenging environment exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The NSW Government recently established the Regional Health Division of NSW Health, which will play a key role in ongoing work to improve patient experiences and outcomes for people in rural and regional NSW.
A formal response to the NSW parliamentary inquiry into health outcomes and access to health and hospital services in rural, regional and remote NSW will be handed down in the coming months.
