New nursing staff pool offices opened

3/7/03 Since the Gallop Government came to office, it has recruited almost 700 new nurses.

3/7/03
Since the Gallop Government came to office, it has recruited almost 700 new nurses.
Health Minister Jim McGinty said 698 new nurses had been employed and 225 of them had been brought on in the past four months in the metropolitan area.
Mr McGinty said there had been 32 new nurses employed in the country region.
The figures were released at the opening of the State Government's inaugural temporary nursing pool, Nurse-West.
Mr McGinty praised the work of former Health Minister Bob Kucera towards introducing Nurse-West and better working conditions for nurses in the public health system.
Mr McGinty said the launch of Nurse-West in March this year had met another of the State Government's election promises to improve the working lives of nurses in Western Australia.
"A key election commitment was to give nurses a more secure choice for employment that suited their current and future needs, and allowed them to balance their working lives with their life outside work," he said.
"Nurse-West does this by offering nurses the opportunity to join a Government nursing pool with flexible employment options and more security.
"It acts as a central unit and point of reference for both hospitals and nurses in the placement and development of temporary nursing staff across the State.
"Temporary nursing staff are essential to delivering consistent quality care to patients, but for a long time there has been a severe gap between supply and demand in public hospitals.
"Nurse-West has been established to fill that gap and support hospitals with top quality and consistent temporary nursing staff to maintain their workforce capacity."
Nurse-West uses existing Department of Health structures to provide training and professional development for temporary staff to develop and improve their skills.
Mr McGinty said a key benefit for patients and the community through Nurse-West would be better quality care for patients through more highly skilled and consistent temporary nursing staff.
Minister's Office - 9220 5000