The Victorian Government is delivering support to paramedics and frontline workers in the form of an allowance of up to $60.00 per shift commencing this week. The new ‘Hospital Surge Support Allowance’ will be paid to patient-facing healthcare workers, providing direct care in public hospital services and Ambulance Victoria, over the next four months.
The next few months will be incredibly hard on ambulance services and healthcare workers as they continue to care for record numbers of patients. In support of the people who are the health system’s backbone, the government says they need to support health workers so that they can continue to deliver the very best care, when Victorians need it most.
Health Minister Martin Foley was quoted saying, “We’ve always respected the work of our skilled and hardworking health workforce. This allowance will support the incredible work that our health professionals are doing day-in day out to deliver Victorians safely to the other side of this pandemic.”
Additionally, the government will recruit up to a thousand healthcare workers currently living overseas, including Australian healthcare workers wanting to return home, as part of a package designed to help ease the pressure on hard-working staff in the state’s hospital system.
You can read the full media release here.
