Masa Depan Tenaga Kesehatan di Daerah Rural
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Aust. J. Rural Health (2017) 25, 254
From the Journal Associates
The rural and remote health workforce of the future
Rural health and remote health are different. You cannot simply tweak and rebadge a metropolitan health
service and expect it to function effectively in a rural
and remote community. It follows that the workforce
for rural and remote health services also needs to be
different and attuned to their communities’ needs.
One of the priority recommendations of the 14th
National Rural Health Conference recognised this
issue by identifying the need for:
a long-term commitment to rural health workforce
scholarships, including expansion of regionallybased training pathways;
broadening the rural generalist pathway to embrace
the full rural and remote health professional workforce, including allied health professionals;
active investing in training and support for health
managers who are at the front line of change and
performance of health systems; and
the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in
Healthcare to work with remote stakeholders to
develop and secure funding to implement national standards for remote health worker safety and security.
Australia is now producing significant numbers of
medical graduates, but the maldistribution of the medical workforce is increasing. These graduates find
work in outer metropolitan, inner and outer regional
communities; very few choose to work in remote and
very remote communities. Inequity of access in those
remote areas is increasing.1
Doctors are crucial to the delivery of comprehensive
primary health care and the implementation of system
reforms such as Health Care Homes. Without
increased numbers of nurses, dentists and allied health
providers, potentially preventable hospitalisations and
the massive differences in health outcomes – such as
were reported in The Second Australian Atlas of
Healthcare Variation2 – will continue. The success of
the Health Care Homes initiative in rural and remote
communities depends on access to the broad range of
health care services and providers that are necessary to
ensure optimal outcomes.
1
2
It is clear that the appointment of the National
Rural Health Commissioner will see a renewed
emphasis on the development of the rural generalist
pathway for medical practitioners. Alliance members
strongly argue that unless there is a broadened rural
generalist pathway for all rural and remote health professionals, we will continue to see poor health outcomes, particularly in remote communities.
Developing the rural and remote health workforce
of the future needs long-term government commitment
involving all jurisdictions in addition to the ongoing
work of educational institutions, scholarship programs, training providers and communities. Current
progress in regional communities must extend to the
needs of remote communities.
It is important to reconsider how we choose and
train the rural and remote workforce of the future.
Training closer to home – including postgraduate
training – broadens the potential pool of people willing to consider health careers. Delivery of education
and training closer to home removes the extra barrier
that relocation costs can impose. Regional and remote
health education and training hubs using new technology can help.
For many rural and remote communities, health,
disability care, aged and community services are the
jobs of the future. To capitalise on this, workforce
planning needs to engage communities to identify
future local needs and plan to source, educate and
train the workforce locally as far as possible. New
scopes of practice, developed with professional bodies,
and new, possibly more generalist roles, will support
health professionals working in settings changing
rapidly in response to improved communication technologies. Place-based solutions to meet local health
needs are the way of the future and should be
expanded to include the local health workforce and its
needs.
Fiona Brooke
Senior Policy Officer
National Rural Health Alliance
http://aihw.gov.au/workforce/medical/additional/, Supplementary Table 23, accessed 6 July 2017.
http://acsqhc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapAndAppGallery/index.html?appid=fd3b04ebe3934733b7ecb8514166c08f, accessed 6 July 2017.
doi: 10.1111/ajr.12383
© 2017 National Rural Health Alliance Inc.
Aust. J. Rural Health (2017) 25, 254
From the Journal Associates
The rural and remote health workforce of the future
Rural health and remote health are different. You cannot simply tweak and rebadge a metropolitan health
service and expect it to function effectively in a rural
and remote community. It follows that the workforce
for rural and remote health services also needs to be
different and attuned to their communities’ needs.
One of the priority recommendations of the 14th
National Rural Health Conference recognised this
issue by identifying the need for:
a long-term commitment to rural health workforce
scholarships, including expansion of regionallybased training pathways;
broadening the rural generalist pathway to embrace
the full rural and remote health professional workforce, including allied health professionals;
active investing in training and support for health
managers who are at the front line of change and
performance of health systems; and
the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in
Healthcare to work with remote stakeholders to
develop and secure funding to implement national standards for remote health worker safety and security.
Australia is now producing significant numbers of
medical graduates, but the maldistribution of the medical workforce is increasing. These graduates find
work in outer metropolitan, inner and outer regional
communities; very few choose to work in remote and
very remote communities. Inequity of access in those
remote areas is increasing.1
Doctors are crucial to the delivery of comprehensive
primary health care and the implementation of system
reforms such as Health Care Homes. Without
increased numbers of nurses, dentists and allied health
providers, potentially preventable hospitalisations and
the massive differences in health outcomes – such as
were reported in The Second Australian Atlas of
Healthcare Variation2 – will continue. The success of
the Health Care Homes initiative in rural and remote
communities depends on access to the broad range of
health care services and providers that are necessary to
ensure optimal outcomes.
1
2
It is clear that the appointment of the National
Rural Health Commissioner will see a renewed
emphasis on the development of the rural generalist
pathway for medical practitioners. Alliance members
strongly argue that unless there is a broadened rural
generalist pathway for all rural and remote health professionals, we will continue to see poor health outcomes, particularly in remote communities.
Developing the rural and remote health workforce
of the future needs long-term government commitment
involving all jurisdictions in addition to the ongoing
work of educational institutions, scholarship programs, training providers and communities. Current
progress in regional communities must extend to the
needs of remote communities.
It is important to reconsider how we choose and
train the rural and remote workforce of the future.
Training closer to home – including postgraduate
training – broadens the potential pool of people willing to consider health careers. Delivery of education
and training closer to home removes the extra barrier
that relocation costs can impose. Regional and remote
health education and training hubs using new technology can help.
For many rural and remote communities, health,
disability care, aged and community services are the
jobs of the future. To capitalise on this, workforce
planning needs to engage communities to identify
future local needs and plan to source, educate and
train the workforce locally as far as possible. New
scopes of practice, developed with professional bodies,
and new, possibly more generalist roles, will support
health professionals working in settings changing
rapidly in response to improved communication technologies. Place-based solutions to meet local health
needs are the way of the future and should be
expanded to include the local health workforce and its
needs.
Fiona Brooke
Senior Policy Officer
National Rural Health Alliance
http://aihw.gov.au/workforce/medical/additional/, Supplementary Table 23, accessed 6 July 2017.
http://acsqhc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapAndAppGallery/index.html?appid=fd3b04ebe3934733b7ecb8514166c08f, accessed 6 July 2017.
doi: 10.1111/ajr.12383
© 2017 National Rural Health Alliance Inc.