The physio will see you now

Why health workers need to broaden their roles to fix the workforce crisis

This article first appeared in The Conversation on 29 August 2022 and is authored by Professor Henry Cutler as part of a series looking at Labor's job summit.

The greatest workforce challenge Australia faces is in health, an issue that will likely be with us for another decade.

Shortages of health workers reduce access to care, increase waiting times and reduce patient safety. They can even increase avoidable deaths.

However, we don’t need the upcoming Jobs and Skills Summit to solve this problem. There is already low-hanging fruit to pick.

We need to broaden the scope of practice for some health workers, engage in better workforce planning, and reform how existing and new resources are deployed.

Read the full article at The Conversation.

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