KEEP IN TOUCH
(07) 3105 7800
Turrbal and Jagera Country
Level 4, 348 Edward Street
Brisbane QLD 4000
The GROW Rural program is strongly grounded in community development values which are expressed through fostering community self-determination and inter-sectoral collaboration to influence local primary health care recruitment and outcomes.
To translate this approach into action at the grassroots level the locally based North Queensland (NQ) Health Workforce Connector (HWC) role was created. The value of recruiting locally was considered integral to navigate the social, economic and political characteristics of the Tableland communities, as was having sustainable primary health care facilities to attract a rural workforce more broadly. Initially a part-time role, this year saw the expansion of the NQ Health Workforce Connector to become a full-time position, supported by NQPHN, that sits within HWQ’s Future Workforce team.
In addition to working collaboratively with the GROW Rural NQ health students alongside primary health care settings on the Tablelands and their communities to create structured pathways into employment as early career graduates, the position responsibilities were expanded to:
Facilitate attraction and recruitment to local vacant positions in primary care alongside HWQ’s Health Workforce Solutions team to build total workforce numbers in the region.
Act as community concierge for student placements, early career graduates and experienced health professionals moving and settling into the Tablelands.
Work with universities, health services and students to implement cross-sectoral placement models to include combined (shared between primary health and hospital-based care), community settings (education) and outreach.
Promote a “grow your own” health workforce strategy by engaging with local high schools to deliver a continuous suite of health career activities.
Having a place-based employee was a significant departure from HWQ’s customary approach to workforce program delivery requiring both an intellectual and operational leap of faith. Now the value and success of the HWC role has been established as the way of the future, HWQ will establish HWCs in other Queensland regions to ensure the long-term sustainability of rural health services and communities.
Hear what our NQ HWC, Ash Bolton has to say about her first 6 months in the NQ HWC role below.
