Tackling health workforce shortages
PRACTICAL solutions and collaboration will be the focus when healthcare leaders gather on Thursday to discuss addressing “critical” workforce shortages.
Deakin University will hold the MBA Healthcare Management Symposium – which they hope will become an annual event – as more than 100 healthcare management leaders, researchers and students join to discuss Australia’s workforce challenges and potential solutions.
Western Victoria Primary Health Network (PHN) operations executive director Janelle Jakowenko said the think-tank was “really important” for leaders from different corners of the sector to come together and share ideas.
“We need to all come together and look at how we can collectively improve and grow our health workforce,” she said.
“We want to make sure that the PHN, Barwon Health, Deakin, and other key healthcare providers and organisations in (Geelong) are working very strongly in partnership with one another.
“We know that there are critical workforce shortages in the Geelong and wider region.
“The more that we can work collaboratively, the more we can solve problems.”
Ms Jakowenko said organisations needed to work together to solve “bottlenecks” in the workforce creation cycle.
This would include providing clinical supervision placements sooner for those who need them to finish degrees.
Symposium co-convener Margaret Way said the Covid-19 pandemic had challenged the way healthcare was delivered worldwide and as the pandemic continued, traditional models of care delivery were struggling to meet demands.
“This symposium will generate important collaborative sector discussion, not just about how we can attract staff, but also how to build our current workforce’s capacity and capability,” Dr Way said.
“It’s important for us to listen to industry about how providers have addressed the problems being faced across the board, so we can learn from each other.
“For the students in our healthcare management program, it’s about making connections and engaging with peers across the industry so they can be part of building practical solutions for workforce shortages.”
Health leaders joining the event will include Barwon Health chief executive Frances Diver, Eastern Health learning and teaching executive director Leanne Boyd and Australian College of Nursing chief executive Adjunct Professor Kylie Ward.
The symposium will feature presentations from leaders with different perspectives in meeting the needs of a stressed workforce, including those involved in policy and planning, health service delivery, professional bodies and education.
The symposium will be held at Deakin Downtown on Collins St, Melbourne on November 24.