In a wide ranging report looking at the carer needs across Australia, PwC Australia published Reimagine Care Workforce Solutions in October 2022.
Australian Health Journal spoke with Kerryn Dillon, Director Ageing and Reablement and Health Workforce at PwC Australia about the community care sectors of aged care, disability care and childcare the report covers.
These segments cover a number of policy portfolios – education, social services, housing, employment and health. Kerryn references some of the demands on community care workers:
- 22% of the 5.7 million aged over 60 in Australia access aged care services
- 10% of the 1 in 6 people living with a disability access specialised disability services through the NDIS
- 1.3 million of the 1.6 million children in Australia aged under 5 access child care services
Kerryn states there is a significant overlap in the duties performed across the segments and the demand will continue to grow. There are 4 key challenges that she talks about
- Demand increasing due to population growth, the ageing population, growth of NDIS
- Ageing workforce across domains such as nursing and aged care, further compounded by the same rate not entering the workforce
- Limited training for the existing workforce and focus on compliance rather than best practice
- Poor value proposition making it difficult to attract new workers
Frances McMurtrie, Senior Management from Strategy&, a division of PwC Australia speaks about the work Strategy& has done in the report on applying a demand and supply model to the care workforce shortage issues.
Frances talks about the factors and levers that determine the supply of workers, especially the key factor of motivation in performing a care worker role. The analysis includes the care worker pipeline or funnel that approximates (using ABS, Aged Care Workforce Census and NDIS National Workforce Plans) that of the 13 million Australian making up the total labour force, there are less than 1 million who are interested, trained and delivering care roles.
In researching the drop off from a pool of 13 million to 1 million, most investment is going into the “narrow-end” for training and recruitment. Research has shown there is a lack of investment in the motivation supply factor, in closer proximity to the total labour force of 13 million (and even at the top of the funnel where the working age population is at 16 million).
As Frances points out, current communication strategies on attracting care workers are focusing on the existing value proposition of being a care worker – primarily on altruism.
Reimagining care workforce solutions forms PwC Australia and Strategy&’s assessment on fiscal policy, the share economy, the role of telecare or virtual care and using robotics.
Both Kerryn and Frances conclude with earmarking technology being a significant enabler of the care worker sector and addressing some of the challenges.
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Australia’s Nursing Crisis Snapshot
“Nursing, already under pressure, is reaching breaking point due to the pressures of COVID-19 and a disjointed healthcare system, including the acute, primary and aged care sectors”, says Kylie Ward, Australian College of Nursing CEO adding, “We must act now to protect our nurses and healthcare; the time has come for a national reckoning on nursing in Australia.”
Australian nurses cannot continue to work under the extreme pressure they are currently operating under – the impacts are mounting.
The almost 400,000 Australian nurses are a constant presence in every one of our major life milestones, national emergencies and global crises. The nurse of today holds a science degree, possesses highly technical training, valuable medical opinions, front-row expertise, is an effective trainer, and is skilled in population and systemic thinking. But the pandemic is inflicting a major emotional and physical toll on nurses.
In this “Perspectives” special, Australian Health Journal spoke with 4 nurses on the challenges they or nurses in their circle have experienced, the key issues as well some of the opportunities. These nurses come from national leadership & policy, large scale workforce management, a final year student completing over a year on placement across 6 Melbourne Hospitals and a NSW based ICU nurse stranded in Mexico, unable to return to a critical role in nursing to an already strained team due to incoming quotas.
While the issues are challenging, there are strategies that can be put into place to ease the pressure, to support nurses, and nursing care in Australia. These are discussed by the the 4 nurses.
– Adjunct Professor Kylie Ward FACN CEO, Australian College of Nursing
– Adjunct Professor Alanna Geary FACN ACN Chair of Workforce Sustainability Policy Chapter & Chief Nursing & Midwifery Officer, Metro North Health
– Natalie Reyes, NSW based ICU Nurse Currently stranded in Mexico
– Hayley Pollock, Final Year Bachelor of Nursing Student & ACN Emerging Nurse Leader
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Reflecting on a pivotal year for pharmacy
Dr. Kate Wang, a Senior Lecturer in Pharmacy at RMIT University and Adjunct Senior Lecturer, University of Western Australia, has over a decade of experience in both hospital and community pharmacy settings.
Dr Wang spoke to Australian Health Journal on some of the key topics in 2024 that have been pivotal as a pharmacist, academic and researcher for the pharmacy profession.
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Belonging in a medical device company
Edith de Boer is the HR Director for Zimmer Biomet in Australia and New Zealand. Her career originally was in telecommunications and consulting in Europe. After leaving The Netherlands, Edith worked into the Australian medical research industry, before moving into a human resources role at Zimmer Biomet. Edith spoke to Australian Health Journal about her role and the organisation.
