SA Health is to recruit additional doctors and nurses to ease the critical workforce shortage at Women’s and Children’s Hospital (WCH).
Announcing the recruitment drive, Premier, Peter Malinauskas said 60 extra doctors and nurses would be employed to deliver care at the hospital.
“These extra staff include 48 more doctors, with 17 of them senior specialists, and 12 more nurses who will boost cancer and mental health care for children,” Mr Malinauskas said.
The Premier said the staffing boost would ease the critical workforce shortage at WCH and equip the hospital to provide the best care.
“The 48 extra doctors will be recruited over a four-year period, with 10 more doctors starting this year and recruitment now underway in consultation with clinicians to determine the areas of most need,” he said.
Mr Malinauskas said doctors would be recruited in areas such as cancer, cardiology, intensive care, respiratory, renal, dermatology, mental health and neurology, rheumatology and general paediatric medicine.
He said funding for the 12 specialty nurses would start from July to meet the urgent need for additional paediatric support, with recruitment now underway.
Minister for Health and Wellbeing, Chris Picton said SA Health had already begun a recruitment drive for extra nurses to work in the hospital system, launching a campaign to recruit new nurses at the end of May – a month ahead of schedule.
Mr Picton said the staffing boost would be massive injection to “provide for timely care for our sickest children in the State”.
