Call to action for suitably qualified retired Tasmanian health professionals

Calling all suitably qualified retired health professionals — Tasmania needs you.

CALLING all suitably qualified retired health professionals, the state needs you.

The call to action from authorities for reinforcements comes as the health system braces for heavy demand in coming months amid the coronavirus pandemic.

On Saturday, the state’s health department advertised for expressions of interest from qualified doctors, nurses and allied health professionals to assist in the response to COVID-19.

Health Minister Sarah Courtney would not put a number on how many extra health professionals the service was seeking, but said authorities wanted to see “as many people to put their hands up as possible”.

Health Minister Sarah Courtney. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

“We know that there’s going to be increasing demand with coronavirus,’’ she said.

“We’re expanding and extending our physical capacity but it’s important to ensure that we have got the people to staff that and also make sure that we can staff it to manage fatigue within our hardworking healthcare professionals.

“I would encourage Tasmanians, if they have retired or perhaps left the career and decided that they would like to be able to be part of our team again, to contact the health department.”

Ms Courtney said officials were investigating all options of how health professionals could work together as a team across Tasmania.

Training to upskill existing staff to meet the challenges created by the coronavirus crisis was also being conducted as a priority, Ms Courtney said.

“We’d like to expand it obviously as much as possible but ... in a clinically appropriate and safe way,’’ she said.

“We’re also working with our current teams to make sure that we’re expanding capacity, doing the necessary training so that we have the right people with the right skills in the right locations to be able to help us through this challenge.”

In the advertisement, the Tasmanian Health Service and State Government said applications from non-practising or recently retired professionals in those fields would be welcomed.

Offers of employment to applicants would be subject to re-registration.