The allied health workforce in Australia is rapidly growing with demand expected to grow further, however there remains national shortages across a number of professions. This is ‘especially true for rural and remote Australia, as allied health professionals are concentrated around major urban areas’. This impacts on the ability to offer quality student placements in rural areas, which whilst it is not the sole factor impacting a student’s willingness to work rurally, can support the attraction of new graduates into the rural and remote workforce. This project was to scope the viability and sustainability of a clinical education and training model that will strengthen allied and scientific health clinical placement opportunities and support the development of the rural workforce training pipeline in South Australia.
This project included a Findings Workshop that brought together all stakeholders to validate and test our recommendations. And yes, you read that right, 46 attendees, and online too due to COVID concerns. We managed breakout groups and tested model components, as well as "all in" conversations. This process enabled our report to go to Government knowing that the way forward had significant support.
The review identified that key and critical stakeholders were highly engaged, expressing a willingness to contribute to substantive change and reform, and to have greater strategic input into placement planning and coordination. While a range of factors influence the design of future options, the Project adopted the following three key objectives:
Three model options were identified. Each option presented a solution to deliver on the project objectives, however, the existing arrangements and system dynamics are complex. As a consequence, the options were presented in a staged way that acknowledged interdependencies and timeframes for implementation.
You have captured the complexity extremely neatly. It’s been great working with your team, happy to support links to potential further work!
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