Addressing physiotherapy workforce shortages in rural and remote Australia
The Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) is calling for the Federal Government to extend its Integrated Rural Training Pipeline for Medicine to the physiotherapy workforce to strengthen rural healthcare. Chair of the APA’s Rural Members’ group, Daniel Mahony, said that if the government is serious about addressing patient outcomes and health workforce shortages in rural and remote Australia, they need to be looking at the workforce as a whole.
“Without more support for rural physiotherapy positions, the effect will be isolated GPs unable to manage the complexity and multitude of issues their patients have, Mr Mahony said.
The APA says that the allocation of the new National Rural Health Commissioner funding to solely support medical students to train and remain in rural areas is a missed opportunity to improve patient outcomes. Physiotherapy graduates who choose to take rural positions do not currently have access to a national scheme that offers support to ease the move from city to country.
Meanwhile, a new study confirmed that better training pathways and promotion are needed to convince more nurses and allied health professionals to go rural. Researchers found that young professionals were heavily influenced by positive clinical and personal rural experiences, including a sense of connection to people, place and community.
Dr Ross Maxwell, Chair of Rural Health Workforce Australia (RHWA) said that one of the core building blocks of a better rural workforce pipeline is the new Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training Program, with a renewed focus on nursing and allied health students.
Funding deficits for physiotherapy and other allied health in rural and remote areas prevents many patients from receiving early intervention care and rehabilitation services. Rural Australians continue to have less access to physiotherapists than Australians who live in cities.
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