On Tuesday 18 June 2024, Treasurer the Hon Daniel Mookhey MLC delivered the 2024-25 NSW State Budget.

This Budget includes $13.4 billion to upgrade hospitals across the State and building housing for key health workers; $480.7 million to relieve pressure on emergency departments; $274.7 million Essential Health Services Fund to help recruit 250 new healthcare workers to new hospitals across the state; and $130.9 million Family Start Package to improve access to care for families including early intervention programs to boost lifelong maternal and child health.

Investment in hospital infrastructure

$3.4 billion in 2024-25 to upgrade hospitals and health facilities across the State.

The Building Better Hospitals Package commits $265.0 million for a critical upgrade of Port Macquarie Hospital and an additional $395.3 million to deliver ongoing hospital redevelopments at Eurobodalla, Ryde, Temora, Mental Health Complex at Westmead, Liverpool, Moree, Nepean, Cessnock and Shellharbour.

• A further $250.0 millionwill be invested across NSW hospitals as part of the Critical Asset Maintenance Program. Development also continues for the new Single Digital Patient Record system, a next generation system which will consolidate and make it easier for clinicians to access patient information.

Relieving pressure on our emergency departments

The NSW Government’s Emergency Department Relief Package invests $480.7 million to help to avoid an estimated 290,000 visits to emergency departments each year once fully implemented.

• $171.4 million to establish a ‘Single Front Door’ – a single point of advice, assessment, triage and referral for people in NSW with urgent non-life threatening conditions, backed with the introduction of three additional virtual care services and helping 180,000 people avoid a trip to the ED •
• $100.0 million to back in urgent care services, a key instrument of the health system that will provide a pathway to care outside of hospitals for an estimated 114,000 patients •
• $70.1 million to expand emergency department short stay units to improve patient flow and reduce ED wait times by nearly 80,000 hours •
• $15.1 million for an Ambulance Matrix that enables paramedics to transport patients to emergency departments with greater capacity and reduces wait times by providing real time hospital data • $31.4 million to increase Hospital in the Home across the State allowing over 3,500 additional patients each year to be cared for in their home rather than a hospital bed
• $53.9 million to improve patient flow and support discharge planning by identifying patients early on that are suitable to be discharged home with the appropriate supports in place.

 Supporting primary healthcare through GPs

• $188.8 million as part of the Bulk[1]Billing Support Initiative to ensure that primary health care services remain accessible to families and households and to protect the cost of seeing a GP for families and households, reduce the strain on emergency departments

 investing in our frontline health workers

• $274.7 millionEssential Health Services Fund, to help recruit 250 new healthcare workers to new hospitals across the state including at Prince of Wales Hospital, Tweed Hospital, Bowral, Sutherland, Wentworth, Cowra, Cooma, Glen Innes, and Griffith.
• $200.1 million expansion of the NSW Health Key Worker Housing Accommodation program to house health workers in regional NSW to better recruit and retain essential health workers across the state. Early assessment has identified a number of possible future locations such as Lismore, Eurobodalla, Tweed Heads and Lake Cargelligo.
• delivering an extra 500 regional paramedics
• abolishing the wages cap and delivering the highest wage increases for health workers in over a decade.

For full details:

• Media Release: 2024-25-nsw-budget-park-a-plan-to-build-a-better-health-system-for-nsw-communities.pdf
• Budget papers: 2024-25 NSW Budget Papers

 

A new research centre focused on improving the care and wellbeing of cancer survivors will be established as part of a new 10-year partnership between UNSW Sydney and Cancer Council NSW (CCNSW).

The launch of the Australian Research Centre for Cancer Survivorship is the first of its type focused entirely on transforming the lives of cancer survivors through an evidence-based approach and world-class researchers.

Created through a joint investment of $40 million from UNSW and Cancer Council NSW, the centre will leverage the expertise of each organisation as well as building new capacity to drive research, education and advocacy in cancer survivorship. Critically, the centre will partner with consumers and industry to address critical issues for cancer survivors. A major focus of the work will be breaking down barriers to access in regional and rural settings and greater engagement with primary care.

For full details visit UNSW website

This article and image have been reproduced with the gracious permission of UNSW Sydney.

Luminesce Alliance paediatric precision medicine clinician researchers, Professor Sue Woolfenden and Dr. Alan Ma, feature in Research Australia’s latest report, Clinician Researchers: Research Activating the Health System. The report highlights the breadth and variety of the clinician researcher role, by profiling more than 30 clinician researchers from across Australia at different stages of their careers.

Professor Russell Gruen, Dean of the College of Health and Medicine at Australian National University and a Research Australia Director said, ‘Clinician researchers bring both science and service to healthcare and translate the findings to benefit patients. They are motivated by truth and inspire the same in others.

‘Such careers should be valuable and rewarding. Yet those that choose this path often face many challenges.’

We encourage you to read the report to discover the invaluable role played by clinician researchers and hear their feedback on their challenges, barriers, and critical areas for change, to ensure they can continue to serve our community.

To find out more about the report visit Research Australia.

Professor Sue Woolfenden is Professor of Community Paediatrics at the University of Sydney and Director of Community Paediatrics within the Clinical Services Integration and Population Health Directorate at Sydney Local Health District. Prof. Woolfenden is integral to the development of Luminesce Alliance Psychosocial Platform and associated research.

Dr Alan Ma is a Clinical Geneticist at Sydney Children’s Health Network, Research Translation Fellow and Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney. Dr Ma’s Luminesce Alliance funded research has contributed to improve the patient journey for children with rare genetic diseases.