Doctors, nurses raise alarm as scheme for bush health workers on chopping block

“WAIS did not achieve the intended workforce outcomes to either grow the clinician workforce or discourage clinicians leaving,” he told The Courier-Mail.

The Queensland Nurses and Midwives Union (QNMU) has called for a replacement scheme to be introduced, saying the axing could worsen existing chronic staff shortages outside major cities.

“To scrap it entirely without any alternative risks exacerbating already serious staffing issues in our regions,” secretary Sarah Beaman said in a statement.

“In the absence of any clear details about what is going to replace the scheme, we are asking the Government to give regional Queenslanders clarity around how their services will be retained, and critical workforce shortages will be managed.”

AMA Queensland president Dr Nick Yim echoed the sentiment in an interview with 4BC.

“We will meet with the government to discuss some strategies,” he said.

“We have a healthcare workforce shortage. We need to recruit. We also need to train, and also we need to retain them, we have to work out how we’re going to implement this moving forward.”

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