Covid spread in western NSW leads to $800 bonus for nurses

Hospitals in western NSW are offering nurses an extra $800 a week as part of a recruitment campaign designed to deal with the sharp spike in Covid cases.

Nurses are being offered an extra $800 a week to help keep hospitals running in western NSW as more than 100 staff have been forced to isolate the explosion in Covid case numbers.

To help fill shifts, the Western NSW Local Health District is offering new nursing recruits an additional $823 on top of their weekly award wage.

Nurses are being offered an extra $800 a week to work at hospitals like Dubbo Base in regional NSW. Picture: Ryan Young

The measure was announced as part of a campaign calling for registered, enrolled and undergraduate nurses to start work as soon as possible in the district which includes regional towns such as Dubbo, Orange, Bathurst, Parkes and Mudgee.

A Western NSW LHD spokeswoman said about 120 staff in the district were currently unable to work because they were self-isolating.

“Not all are frontline workers and some are able to transition readily to working from home,” she said.

“It’s reasonable to assume that staffing numbers will be further affected as this phase of the pandemic unfolds.

“The current call is designed to augment our existing workforce so we’re prepared for staff becoming unavailable as a result of being furloughed.”

The number of people with Covid in hospitals across the district stands at 15.Picture: Richard Dobson

A NSW Health spokesman refused to say if other health districts were offering similar incentives as part of Covid recruitment campaigns.

“NSW Health does not centrally recruit nurses, but rather each Local Health District has its own processes in place which aligns with local staffing requirements,” he said.

Across the state there were 3159 NSW Health workers in Covid isolation as at January 4, the spokesman confirmed.

“Of this total, more than three quarters were the result of exposure in the community,” he said.

“Since the start of the pandemic, NSW Health has engaged in forward planning with clinicians to ensure hospitals have capacity to care for Covid-19 patients who need to be hospitalised.

“NSW’s healthcare system is fully integrated and staff can be deployed to different parts of the health system as needed due to patient demand, workforce supply challenges and the hospital’s capacity to surge.”

In response to the rapid spread of the Covid Omicron variant, the NSW Government recently changed rules to allow asymptomatic healthcare workers classified as close contacts to leave isolation to attend their workplace.

More than 2500 new Covid cases have been confirmed in the Western NSW LHD Since December 23, with the number of new daily cases hitting a record high of 524 on Thursday.

Despite the growth in case numbers, 15 people with Covid are being cared for in hospitals and two are in intensive care units.