Remote turnover assessed
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Experts have reviewed the extreme staff turnover in remote health services.
A recent study by Menzies School of Health Research shows an annual turnover rate of around 151 per cent in Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service (ACCHS) clinics within remote regions of the Northern Territory and Western Australia.
The research, published in Human Resources for Health, analysed payroll data from 11 of the 39 ACCHSs across the NT and WA, covering the period from 2017 to 2019.
These services collectively cater to approximately 63,500 Aboriginal people across 30 remote communities.
The study highlights a crucial finding: Aboriginal staff experience half the turnover rate of their non-Aboriginal counterparts, indicating that employing local Aboriginal staff may contribute to greater workforce stability.
The turnover rate was found to be higher in more remote areas, compounding the already significant costs of service delivery in these regions.
High turnover results in frequent reliance on short-term agency and locum staff, which further strains resources through the need for constant recruitment and orientation processes.
Lead author Dr Prabhakar Veginadu said increasing the employment of local Aboriginal people could improve the stability of the remote health workforce while also enhancing cultural safety for patients.
The study also underscores the inadequacy of current primary healthcare funding models, which do not sufficiently accommodate the higher costs associated with remote ACCHSs.
The authors call for a shift towards more equitable, needs-based funding to better support these essential services.
“Growing our own local and skilled workforce is the best way to meet the health needs of communities across the NT,” said Professor Alan Cass AO, Director of Menzies School of Health Research.
He further highlighted the efforts of the Menzies-Ramaciotti Centre in building training pathways and providing opportunities for regional and remote community members to enter the healthcare workforce.
This research forms part of a broader initiative focused on examining the health and economic impacts of short-term staffing within Aboriginal primary health services.