Calls for governments to do more to target Australian trained healthcare workers living overseas

More should be done to entice Victorian healthcare workers home from overseas to fill the skills shortage, an expert says.

More than 2000 Australian paramedics are working in the United Kingdom, prompting calls for the government to do more to encourage their return to plug a skills shortage.

The Herald Sun on Tuesday revealed the most recent available data showed average emergency response times have blown out by more than two minutes compared to when Labor won the 2014 election.

But the Premier on Tuesday again blamed the pandemic and winter pressures in his bid to defend the failing response times.

Victoria has run out a number of programs to recruit healthcare workers from overseas.

Almost 700 workers have been brought into the state from Ireland, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, New Zealand, the Philippines and the US over the past year.

There are calls to encourage the return of Aussie paramedics working overseas. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

Additionally, it’s hoped the campaign would motivate another 2,000 international healthcare workers to work in Victoria by the end of June 2023, with a retention period of two years.

However, Australasian College of Paramedicine chair Ryan Lovett said while the recruitment drive was welcome, the state should hone in on Australian paramedics working abroad.

There are at least 2200 Australian-trained paramedics in the United Kingdom alone, according to Mr Lovett.

“There’s a great opportunity for us to bring home the products that we’ve lost to overseas jurisdictions,” he said.

Mr Lovett will call on governments at all levels to do more to target Australian trained healthcare workers living overseas at the National Health Workforce Summit on Thursday.

Australian paramedicine graduates have historically outnumbered available jobs.

Daniel Andrews has defended the failing ambulance response times. Picture: Luis Ascui

But Mr Lovett said this trend – which has prompted graduates to move overseas for work – is now slowing.

“For the past 10 or 15 years … London Ambulance would send over recruitment teams and take 200 (of our) people,” he said.

“Now we’re seeing record investment … so we think for the next few years, there’s going to be some workforce shifts … and there’s not enough paramedics in the pipeline.”

Preventing staff shortages also meant addressing burnout and Mr Lovett warned senior clinicians were “physically and emotionally exhausted” in the wake of Covid.

Australasian College of Paramedicine chair Ryan Lovett says there is a ‘great opportunity’ to get paramedics to return to Australia.

He will also tell the summit that paramedics should be stationed in urgent care centres, which are typically staffed by nurses and general practitioners, to alleviate pressure on hospitals.

“Put them at the front door of an urgent care centre where they can undertake very comprehensive rapid assessments of patients coming through the door,” he said.

“They’re skilled, experienced and all they need is an opportunity to work in a place … that’s not the front of an ambulance at three on a Sunday morning, when they’re ramped outside of a hospital.”

While international healthcare workers are encouraged to work in Victoria in line with the current recruitment drive, the Victorian government has assured that Australian graduates will remain first-choice in the recruitment process.

“International recruitment is helping to boost the number of paramedics working in Victoria, and Australian-trained paramedics who have moved overseas will be targeted as part of this campaign,” a Victorian government spokesman said.

The latest data – released in August – shows just 64 per cent of critical code 1 jobs are being met within the benchmark 15-minutetarget – compared with 73 per cent in December 2014.

“Covid has done damage,’’ Mr Andrews said.

“Our job is to repair that and our paramedics have our full support to do that.’’