Alice Springs Hospital has started training its second cohort of registered nurses to work in the Emergency Department and Intensive Care Unit, as the Northern Territory government attempts to tackle the shortage of health professionals in regional and rural NT.
On Tuesday it was announced nine registered nurses from ED and ICU are undertaking the critical care post-graduate program, with the NT government stating they are helping to build both the capability and capacity of registered nurses in Central Australia.
The government said these nine graduates will build on the 10 nurses who completed the same course last year and began work at ASH.
The announcement comes during a chronic shortage of medical professionals across-the-board in the NT and has seen calls for incentives to work in regional and rural communities. A study found new enrolments in GP vocational training in the NT declined by more than 80 per cent from a peak of 74 in 2016 to only 14 in 2023.
Many of these communities also have significant Indigenous populations that are disproportionately reflected in negative health outcomes.
Last year, the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress noted the critical shortage of health care professionals in Central Australia threatened life expectancy gains for Indigenous people, labelling it a "crisis."
Congress Chief Medical Officer for Public Health, Dr John Boffa, said of the primary health care workforce in rural and remote NT is "at breaking point".
"The critical shortage of doctors, nurses, Aboriginal health practitioners, allied health and other staff has forced CAAC to temporarily close one of our Alice Springs clinics, as we prioritise keeping our remote clinics open," he said.
"This situation is unacceptable and urgent action is needed. Shortages threaten to undermine progress made on improving Aboriginal life expectancy and health outcomes in the NT."
CAAC outlined a series of short-term solutions that needed to be implemented including a "specific international migration campaign" to recruit healthcare staff - including GP's; a national campaign to encourage long-term commitment for workers to regularly return for weeks at a time to a particular community; retention payments for remote area nurses after 12 months of service; and the allocation of allocation of the 40 medical undergraduate places - already funded to Charles Darwin University - in order for the NT to have its own medical school.
The last point has seen the Albanese government in December provide $2.8 million to fund "preliminary exploratory work" on the establishment of a new medical school in the NT.
The NT government has promoted the post-graduate program, arguing a range of benefits, including improved staff retention and enhanced skills, knowledge, confidence and credentials registered nurses.
Health Minister Selena Uibo said the government was committed to upskilling the NT workforce.
"Registered nurses help to improve patient health outcomes and access to services for high-needs populations, as well as reduce preventable hospitalisations," Minister Uibo said.
"These registered nurses provide valuable support to ED and ICU work and soon help relieve some of the pressures ASH and emergency departments have been experiencing."
