In 2018, the Government highlighted the workforce as a critical area impacting on rural health services and committed $20 million of funding over four years to develop the Rural Health Workforce Strategy (RHWS). The objective of the RHWS was “to develop a strong, available and sustainable rural health workforce who can work in partnership with consumers and their families to provide effective and appropriate rural health care”. This evaluation assessed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the RHWS in supporting workforce attraction, recruitment and training, with a focus on the:
To provide a consistent framework for the evaluation of the RHWS an evaluation matrix was developed which included four evaluation domains:
These domains guided the lines of enquiry explored through the data collection phase with data obtained from a range of sources including a review of relevant documents, stakeholder consultations and the administration of online surveys. Surveys were distributed to RHWS Steering Committee and sub-committee members and stakeholders who contributed to the development of the RWHS and Workforce Plans.
The evaluation found that the funding provided by Government was successfully utilised to develop and release a RWHS, as well as six comprehensive rural workforce plans that spanned all major rural health groups. It was evident that the processes utilised to develop the RHWS have developed a “platform” or foundation for the workforce plans to be implemented. The critical elements that comprised this platform were:
The evaluation presented nine recommendations to support the ongoing implementation of the Workforce Plan and the sustainability of the initiatives.
We acknowledge and pay our respects to the Traditional Custodians of the Country on which we live, work and play and honour their connection to Country and culture. We pay our respects to their Elders, past, present and emerging.
