It is a well-known fact that demand on the health system is increasing. Drivers include an ageing population, longer life expectancies and more people living with multiple chronic conditions.
On the North Coast we have twice as many older people than the NSW and national averages and this is set to keep increasing. Having a strong primary health care workforce is critical to meeting the escalating need for health services.
Healthy North Coast has released an update to our Primary Health Care Workforce – Trends and Forecast Report (2022). The report can be downloaded here.
Included is new workforce data, new analysis of age profiles, years to retirement and gender composition of the general practitioner workforce. The updated report provides insights and analysis that the sector can use to inform their workforce plan.
Key findings were:
Healthy North Coast will update this report each year as new data becomes available and as the long-term effects on the health workforce from COVID-19 become known.