Latest news with #NationalRuralHealthAlliance
West Australian
9 hours ago
- Health
- West Australian
'Backbone of health': new plan for rural maternity care
An outback woman was fully prepared for a four-hour trip to the closest hospital to give birth. Living in Lightning Ridge, in far western NSW, the expectant mum was pragmatic about the long journey ahead. But she had not anticipated the dearth of basic care once she and her baby returned home. The woman, an emergency worker, told a NSW rural health inquiry of her experience waiting for weeks to see a GP or a nurse to help her with post-birth complications and an unsettled baby. "As a first-time mum, being pregnant in Lightning Ridge was downright scary and being a mum to a newborn ... is harder than it should be," she wrote to the 2022 inquiry. Stories like these shared at federal and state inquiries in recent years, along with the continued closure of rural birthing services across Australia, has prompted a new plan for maternity care in the bush. Peak health bodies, including the Rural Doctors Association and the National Rural Health Alliance, have backed the first rural maternity framework to be released since 2008. The framework urges government investment in maternity services co-designed with locals, including First Nations communities, along with a focus on continuity of care from known clinicians before, during and after birth. There should also be clear access to miscarriage and abortion care and a guarantee of telehealth or outreach services in remote areas. Scholarships for rural students could be established to get more locals into maternity health roles, in a "grow your own" program, the framework said. There was a 41 per cent reduction in maternity services across Australia in the decade to 2011, mostly in small towns, and larger regional birthing units have been frequently placed on bypass due to staff shortages. New strategies were needed to ensure country families receive equitable care, National Rural Health Commissioner Jenny May said. "A rural maternity service is the backbone of healthcare service delivery - keeping families close, communities strong, and ensuring safe beginnings for the next generation, while supporting the sustainability of local industry through a stable and thriving population," Professor May said. Major regional maternity services have been placed on bypass intermittently across several states, including in Gladstone, Queensland, and Camperdown, Victoria. Those services resumed in 2023 and 2024. In NSW, Tamworth hospital is under immense pressure, while Bathurst, Lithgow and Kempsey maternity units are on the brink of closing down, a 2024 rural health inquiry found. Those kind of scenarios increased the risk faced by rural women and their babies, Rural Doctors Association president RT Lewandowski said. "Women and families often have to travel significant distances or relocate to a town or city with birthing facilities which is expensive, stressful and not acceptable for rural families living in Australia in 2025," Dr Lewandowski said.
Perth Now
9 hours ago
- Health
- Perth Now
'Backbone of health': new plan for rural maternity care
An outback woman was fully prepared for a four-hour trip to the closest hospital to give birth. Living in Lightning Ridge, in far western NSW, the expectant mum was pragmatic about the long journey ahead. But she had not anticipated the dearth of basic care once she and her baby returned home. The woman, an emergency worker, told a NSW rural health inquiry of her experience waiting for weeks to see a GP or a nurse to help her with post-birth complications and an unsettled baby. "As a first-time mum, being pregnant in Lightning Ridge was downright scary and being a mum to a newborn ... is harder than it should be," she wrote to the 2022 inquiry. Stories like these shared at federal and state inquiries in recent years, along with the continued closure of rural birthing services across Australia, has prompted a new plan for maternity care in the bush. Peak health bodies, including the Rural Doctors Association and the National Rural Health Alliance, have backed the first rural maternity framework to be released since 2008. The framework urges government investment in maternity services co-designed with locals, including First Nations communities, along with a focus on continuity of care from known clinicians before, during and after birth. There should also be clear access to miscarriage and abortion care and a guarantee of telehealth or outreach services in remote areas. Scholarships for rural students could be established to get more locals into maternity health roles, in a "grow your own" program, the framework said. There was a 41 per cent reduction in maternity services across Australia in the decade to 2011, mostly in small towns, and larger regional birthing units have been frequently placed on bypass due to staff shortages. New strategies were needed to ensure country families receive equitable care, National Rural Health Commissioner Jenny May said. "A rural maternity service is the backbone of healthcare service delivery - keeping families close, communities strong, and ensuring safe beginnings for the next generation, while supporting the sustainability of local industry through a stable and thriving population," Professor May said. Major regional maternity services have been placed on bypass intermittently across several states, including in Gladstone, Queensland, and Camperdown, Victoria. Those services resumed in 2023 and 2024. In NSW, Tamworth hospital is under immense pressure, while Bathurst, Lithgow and Kempsey maternity units are on the brink of closing down, a 2024 rural health inquiry found. Those kind of scenarios increased the risk faced by rural women and their babies, Rural Doctors Association president RT Lewandowski said. "Women and families often have to travel significant distances or relocate to a town or city with birthing facilities which is expensive, stressful and not acceptable for rural families living in Australia in 2025," Dr Lewandowski said.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
'Backbone of health': new plan for rural maternity care
An outback woman was fully prepared for a four-hour trip to the closest hospital to give birth. Living in Lightning Ridge, in far western NSW, the expectant mum was pragmatic about the long journey ahead. But she had not anticipated the dearth of basic care once she and her baby returned home. The woman, an emergency worker, told a NSW rural health inquiry of her experience waiting for weeks to see a GP or a nurse to help her with post-birth complications and an unsettled baby. "As a first-time mum, being pregnant in Lightning Ridge was downright scary and being a mum to a newborn ... is harder than it should be," she wrote to the 2022 inquiry. Stories like these shared at federal and state inquiries in recent years, along with the continued closure of rural birthing services across Australia, has prompted a new plan for maternity care in the bush. Peak health bodies, including the Rural Doctors Association and the National Rural Health Alliance, have backed the first rural maternity framework to be released since 2008. The framework urges government investment in maternity services co-designed with locals, including First Nations communities, along with a focus on continuity of care from known clinicians before, during and after birth. There should also be clear access to miscarriage and abortion care and a guarantee of telehealth or outreach services in remote areas. Scholarships for rural students could be established to get more locals into maternity health roles, in a "grow your own" program, the framework said. There was a 41 per cent reduction in maternity services across Australia in the decade to 2011, mostly in small towns, and larger regional birthing units have been frequently placed on bypass due to staff shortages. New strategies were needed to ensure country families receive equitable care, National Rural Health Commissioner Jenny May said. "A rural maternity service is the backbone of healthcare service delivery - keeping families close, communities strong, and ensuring safe beginnings for the next generation, while supporting the sustainability of local industry through a stable and thriving population," Professor May said. Major regional maternity services have been placed on bypass intermittently across several states, including in Gladstone, Queensland, and Camperdown, Victoria. Those services resumed in 2023 and 2024. In NSW, Tamworth hospital is under immense pressure, while Bathurst, Lithgow and Kempsey maternity units are on the brink of closing down, a 2024 rural health inquiry found. Those kind of scenarios increased the risk faced by rural women and their babies, Rural Doctors Association president RT Lewandowski said. "Women and families often have to travel significant distances or relocate to a town or city with birthing facilities which is expensive, stressful and not acceptable for rural families living in Australia in 2025," Dr Lewandowski said.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Health and care spending to ease rural growing pains
Rural Australians will get better access to medical care, hundreds of extra doctors and higher wages for essential workers under a budget designed to bolster the booming regions. Healthcare is a centrepiece of the Albanese government's regional budget, with $265.4 million over four years to expand general practitioner training and ease the doctor shortage. That will open up 200 training places per year from 2026, increasing to 400 from 2028, with half to be in country areas. The regions will also get 17 Medicare urgent care clinics under a continued program to build 50 services across the nation over the next three years. Funding for online mental health services - which are used by country Australians in far higher numbers - will be continued with $46 million over four years. Despite funding in key areas of rural health, many of the measures are modest after decades of disparity and centralisation of services. Financial modelling commissioned by the National Rural Health Alliance has shown there is a $6.55 billion annual underspend on health in the regions compared to the cities, or roughly $850 per person. The federal budget, handed down on Tuesday night, also confirmed the government will spend $2.5 billion to increase the minimum award rate for aged care nurses after a Fair Work Commission wage decision. More than a third of that workforce is in the regions. Measures to improve access to childcare, including half a billion dollars to build new centres in under-served areas, were also locked in. The lack of access to early education in country areas, where 2.8 million people live in childcare deserts, has been described as a handbrake on regional productivity and women's workforce participation. Health inequity has long been identified as a major barrier to sustainable growth in regional Australia, which is the centre of the nation's growing renewable energy sector. "Building Australia's future means building on the strength of our regions," Treasurer Jim Chalmers said in his budget speech to parliament. Funding to improve digital connectivity, including improved NBN services to 334,000 regional homes and businesses was also confirmed.
