Gippsland PHN has released a new Health Insights paper, Improving Health Workforce Wellbeing, highlighting why supporting the healthcare workforce is essential to safe, high-quality and sustainable care for Gippsland communities.
Workforce wellbeing is one of the five dimensions of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s Quintuple Aim and is recognised as essential to improving healthcare outcomes. The paper outlines how the mental, physical and emotional health of healthcare workers is directly linked to patient safety, care quality, workforce retention and organisational sustainability.
The paper also highlights current workforce pressures, including shortages across health professional occupations, rural workforce retention challenges and practical barriers affecting recruitment.
Key insights include:
- More than 82% of health professional occupations were identified as being in shortage nationally
- 38% of health professionals considered leaving the rural workforce in the past year
- The top reported recruitment challenges in rural areas were suitable accommodation (67%), relocation costs (55%) and childcare availability (51%)
- Health Care and Social Assistance accounted for 19.5% of Gippsland’s workforce in November 2025, up from 16.4% in November 2024
- In December 2025, top online job advertisements in Gippsland included registered nurses at 114, aged and disability carers at 66, and general practitioners and resident medical officers at 61
The paper focuses on what can be done, particularly at the organisational and broader system level. Strategies include reducing unnecessary administrative burden, building strong multidisciplinary teams, investing in digital systems that support clinicians, growing compassionate and effective leadership, supporting professional development, and improving employment conditions.
Gippsland PHN Chief Executive Officer Amanda Proposch said supporting workforce wellbeing was essential to a strong and sustainable health care system.
“When health care workers are supported, patients, services and communities benefit,” Ms Proposch said.
“Improving workforce wellbeing is about creating the workplace and system conditions health care workers need to do their best work.”
Read Health Insights: Improving Health Workforce Wellbeing here.
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