Addressing health care inequities faced by regional, rural and remote communities was a key focus of the Australian-NSW Government Bilateral Regional Health Forum held in Tamworth recently.
The meeting was co-chaired by Federal Member for Dobell and Assistant Minister for Rural and Regional Health Emma McBride and NSW Minister for Regional Health Bronnie Taylor.
It identified areas for ongoing collaboration between the state and federal governments and focused on collaborative approaches to rebuilding the rural and regional health workforce in NSW across primary health care, mental health and aged care.
McBride said the governments must work together to test innovative ways to boost the health and aged care workforce in the bush and attract and support more doctors, nurses and allied health professionals to these areas.
“I was pleased to highlight the Albanese Government’s $146M investment in the rural health workforce and demonstrate how we will improve health care for regional communities across NSW through genuine collaboration,” she said.
“I look forward to continuing to work with the NSW Government to find practical solutions to our common purpose of delivering better care to people living in the regions.”
It was agreed that five innovative trials of different approaches to primary care provision in rural NSW offered the strongest potential for further collaboration.
The Ministers also agreed to: addressing the distortions in regional health care service delivery; removing impediments to allow clinicians, such as nurse practitioners, to work to the top of their scope of practice, and strengthening clinical placements and ensuring opportunities between both public and primary care.
The ongoing implementation of the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement was highlighted as a key action area, while the Ministers agreed to prioritise their focus on responses to future disasters and youth mental health and wellbeing.
The short and longer term challenges facing aged care services in regional NSW were also discussed.
Taylor said it was a priority of the NSW Government to ensure that everyone had access to the health services they need and deserve.
“Every day we are working with our Federal counterparts to ensure we exceed the health needs of our rural and regional communities,” she said.
“I look forward to continuing this relationship with the Federal Government as we identify where we can all do better and work together to improve the delivery of healthcare in the bush.”
The meeting communique is available online with the next meeting expected to be held in mid-2023.
Primary source: Media release, Dec 9, 2022 Member for Dobell Emma McBride