Unwavering demand for Registered Nurses will see HealthX continue to support their clients as well as those in the aged care industry who require more hands on deck.
HealthX provides workforce planning solutions to aged care facilities in rural and regional Australia. In the last two months alone, HealthX has partnered with over 20 new clients in fulfilling their requirements for Registered Nurses, focusing predominantly in regional Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania.
HealthX Director, Derek Irwin says, “We are well aware that the demand for RNs will only increase in the coming years due to our ageing population.”
“We have been working with clients in rural and regional Australia to successfully deliver a steady stream of RNs around the countryside from Darwin to Tasmania, and we are set to provide more permanent placements of RNs on long term contracts.”
“We have recently covered Cardwell, Ingham, Bundaberg, Stanthorpe, Cairns, Townsville, Taree, Tamworth and most recently Tasmania,” added Mr Irwin.
We are reminded time and again by statistics and reports in the media that the Australian population is ageing.
Click here to track the changes in the age profile of Australia’s population from Federation in 1901 through to the present day, along with projections through to 2100.
In 2011, we saw the first baby boomers turn 65. Social Researcher, Mark McCrindle of McCrindle Research, says that “We will have more 65th birthdays next year than we’ve ever seen in our history… we’re looking at more than 200,000 of them.”
Between now and 2050, the number of older people between the ages of 65 and 84 will more than double. According to the Productivity Commission report, the aged care workforce would need to triple by 2050 to keep pace with demand.
It is expected that within the next eight years, there will be an increase in the demand for residential aged care staff predominantly RNs, and along with that personal care workers, managers and medical care staff.
The Australia Bureau of Statistics state that the growing demand for aged care will spur a growth in spending on residential aged care (e.g. nursing homes and hostels) reflecting the expectation that the number of Australians aged 85 years or older will more than quadruple over the next 40 years.
Spending on community aged care (e.g. care provided to people in their own homes) is also projected to rise significantly.