Communique: 6 November 2023

The second meeting of the Regional Health Ministerial Advisory Panel was held on 6 November 2023 and was chaired by Dr Richard Colbran, Chief Executive Officer of NSW Rural Doctors Network.

The Hon. Ryan Park, Minister for Health and Minister for Regional Health asked the members to prioritise advice around implementing the recommendations of the Rural Health Inquiry, addressing issues of attraction and retention of the regional health workforce, and improving Aboriginal health outcomes and access to care. Minister Park also asked members to consider what’s working well and how those models be scaled and adapted to other locations.

Minister Park also noted that, as well as the challenges in providing healthcare to regional communities, there is a lot of excellent work being done, and that there is a need to celebrate the successes.

Panels members shared their priorities with the Minister which include:

• making the health workforce attractive to younger people, and attracting staff to regions by assisting with accommodation and other supports
• focusing on retention and upskilling, and driving improvements in workplace culture
• working together with other health services so rural health careers are integrated across the system and that organisations are not forced to compete for staff
• strengthening community engagement, especially for Aboriginal people
• considering regulatory and governance reform with the Aboriginal community controlled sector
• integrating information systems across government and other healthcare providers, and
• having virtual care as a valuable complement to providing face-to-face care and enabling the rural workforce.

Meetings are to be held quarterly with the next meeting to be held in early 2024.