• Up to $20,000 payment to study and work as a nurse in WA

• More nurses will improve retention rates, lower wait times, ease overcrowding and deliver better outcomes

• Part of the Building a Better Future blueprint to fix Labor’s broken health system.

A WA Liberal Government would make Western Australia the best place in Australia to study and work as a nurse.

WA Liberal Leader and Shadow Health Minister Libby Mettam today announced the Liberal’s Pathway to Patients Program to pay nursing students up to $20,000 to study in Western Australia and work for at least two years in WA public hospitals.

“We expect this initiative to put at least 2000 additional nurses in the pipeline to work in WA Hospitals,” Ms Mettam said.

“That said, we would happily expand the program if it was oversubscribed.

“Our commonsense plan will give students $12,500 while they study and an additional $7,500 if they work in the WA Public Health Service for two years.

“Data out today shows Western Australia has one of the worst nursing shortages in the nation.

“This shortage hasn’t come out of the blue, it has been a growing problem which the Cook Government has eight years to address; they have done nothing.

“WA Labor has failed to attract and retain healthcare workers, especially in regional areas, and the problem is only getting worse.”  

Ms Mettam said the Pathway to Patients Program, along with other Liberal initiatives to drive efficiency and reprioritise the workforce would improve working conditions for nurses and help with retention rates.  

“Healthcare professionals are leaving the sector because they’re being asked to do more with less under WA Labor,” Ms Mettam said.  

“Western Australia is the only state in Australia where bureaucrats and administrators outnumber frontline nursing staff, it’s little wonder that burnout, unmanageable workloads, and inadequate pay are driving our healthcare workers to leave.

“It’s the equivalent of having more umpires on the field than players.

“We need to take a more holistic approach to addressing the workforce challenges, to encourage healthcare workers to stay, and deliver patients the outcomes they deserve.

“By directly supporting university students financially through the Pathways to Patients program, we are investing in more than just students, we are investing in the future health of West Australians.”  

Liberal Candidate for Joondalup Michael Dudek said more qualified nurses entering the workforce and staying in the public health system would help reduce wait times, ease hospital overcrowding, and ultimately improve health outcomes for all Western Australians.

“Joondalup is home to both Joondalup Health Campus and Edith Cowan University’s nursing school, so I hear first-hand the pressure WA’s health system is under when I am out in our community,” he said.  

“Our Building a Better Future blueprint makes fixing our health system a key priority for a future Mettam Government, and this is just another way we will do that.”