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- 26 September 2007
Mental Health Nursing Reconnect Program
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Page: 2369
Ms ANGELA D'AMORE: I direct my question to the Minister Assisting the Minister for Health (Mental Health). Can the Minister inform the House about the Government's success in recruiting nurses back to the mental health system?
Mr PAUL LYNCH: I thank the honourable member for her longstanding interest in this field. Nurses are an essential part of the mental health workforce. They are critical for the delivery of quality mental health services. This Government is improving the capability of our workforce to deliver mental health services. One particularly successful program is the Nursing ReConnect initiative. This is designed to attract back nurses and midwives who have been out of the nursing workforce for a number of years.
Mental Health ReConnect is one component of this initiative. It was launched in April 2005 and was one of a range of strategies aimed at improving the recruitment and retention of mental health nurses. The initiative is open to enrolled or registered nurses with or without previous experience in mental health who are currently not employed in a public mental health service. The program provides mental health services with four weeks salary replacement and $1,000 preceptor support for each nurse employed. This enables them to receive intensive orientation and support in their first weeks in the role. The Mental Health ReConnect program has far exceeded its original target of 40 nurses. In fact, the 100 th nurse to be recruited through this program has now been employed at the Dubbo Mental Health Unit.
Cheryle Terry is a registered nurse who had been out of nursing for approximately 15 years. She had been running a small business with her husband prior to deciding to re-enter the nursing workforce. Although she had not previously worked in mental health, Cheryle had seen the effects of mental health problems in rural towns and decided she wanted to build her skills in meeting the mental health needs of her community. Cheryle has found the experience, in her words, "amazing" and "eye opening". Cheryle feels Mental Health ReConnect has given her a rare opportunity to learn the skills she needs to make a difference in her community. This is particularly good news for the Dubbo Mental Health Unit, which initially struggled to recruit nursing staff when it opened in 2005. I am advised that to date nine Mental Health ReConnect nurses have been employed at the Dubbo Mental Health Unit and a further two have been employed by the Dubbo Mental Health Team. This reflects the value of the initiative beyond the inpatient setting.
Justice Health has also been a beneficiary of the Mental Health ReConnect Strategy, with a total of six nurses commencing employment across its services. A significant number have also been employed with both South Eastern Sydney and Illawarra Health Service and Sydney West Area Health Service. Cumberland Hospital is a large inpatient mental health facility where a total of 23 Mental Health ReConnect nurses have been employed. This has supported the ever-increasing demands of that acute service. By the beginning of September 2007 the Department of Health Nursing and Midwifery Office had received 487 expressions of interest from nurses inquiring about employment opportunities in mental health via the 1300 number. Calls continue to be received almost daily. Interest in Mental Health ReConnect is generated by a variety of sources that include newspapers, hospital inquiries, online sources, word of mouth, and the New South Wales Health website.
I am advised that this initiative is currently being evaluated. Nurses who have been reconnected and their managers will be asked for their ideas on how we can make the system even better. The employment of the 100th nurse through Mental Health ReConnect reflects the growing interest in mental health nursing as a career, and it matches the Government's record spending on mental health facilities. Obviously the program has been a commendable success, but it is only one part of our Mental Health Nursing Program. Under the Government's "A New Direction for Mental Health" enhancement package we have committed $11 million over five years to the Mental Health Work Force Program. Mental health nursing scholarships are one important component of the program. These scholarships are funded in three categories for nurses working in, or wishing to work in, the mental health field.
The Enrolled Nurse to Registered Nurse scholarships are valued at up to $5,000 each. In 2007 these scholarships will assist over 100 enrolled nurses to undertake studies in the Bachelor of Nursing degree. The postgraduate scholarships are also valued at up to $5,000 each. They will assist more than 200 registered nurses to develop skills and qualifications in a diverse range of mental health fields, including child and adolescent, older adults, forensics and perinatal. Our Mental Health Innovation scholarships, which are valued at up to $10,000 each, are awarded for projects that demonstrate innovative nurse-led models of practice leading to improvements in patient care. These projects reflect the commitment of mental health nurses to meeting the needs of patients wherever they may be located and across the spectrum of their lives and illness.
The success of mental health nursing scholarships has exceeded even the most optimistic expectations. The Government's original target in 2006 was to provide 40 mental health nurse scholarships. We ended up funding 119 scholarships. In 2007 the number of nurses seeking mental health nursing scholarships for study has again greatly exceeded the Government's targets. Due to this overwhelming response, the number of funded mental health nursing scholarships has been increased from 250 to more than 350. This means that this year alone the New South Wales Government will provide almost $1.9 million to enable more registered and enrolled nurses to upgrade their skills and qualifications in mental health.
Over the next five years New South Wales Health will enhance mental health service provision by providing 600 undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships for enrolled and registered nurses specialising in mental health. The Mental Health Work Force Program under "A New Direction for Mental Health" is also funding the expansion in the mental health workforce in areas of need and emerging priorities, such as older people's mental health and child and adolescent mental health. Mental health nursing scholarships are but one of a range of Government strategies to expand the State's mental health nursing workforce.
Other programs include new graduate and transition training programs for nurses and allied health staff who choose to work in mental health, traineeships targeting careers in mental health, and the development of a post-enrolment qualification in mental health for enrolled nurses. In 2007 a significant number of mental health nurses will receive support to undertake nurse practitioner and advanced studies. This is in the context of record expenditure in the mental health field. In the 2007-08 budget the Government's commitment to the delivery of mental health services has been reconfirmed. We are investing $1.5 billion in mental health services this year. That is the first time in the history of the State that we have exceeded $1 billion. It is an 11 per cent increase on last year's budget and almost three times the allocation of $356 million that was provided in 1994-95.
Mrs Judy Hopwood: It's not working.
Mr PAUL LYNCH: I note the interjection. Instead of criticising, it would be nice if the Opposition gave us a plan, a strategy. That carping criticism of the Opposition happens consistently. The Government has a clear program and record expenditure in mental health. There is no alternative from the other side. We simply hear a constant whining and whingeing background noise. It does this place no good for them to take that approach.
The SPEAKER: Order! The House will come to order.
Mr PAUL LYNCH: The Government has committed record amounts in mental health. We are committed to our State's nurses and we are committed to delivering best practice mental health care across the State.
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