5000 extra nurses and midwives will be recruited in NSW, in what the NSW Government is calling as the largest workforce boost in the history of Australian healthcare. 

Premier Gladys Berejiklian made the “unprecedented” announcement at Nepean Hospital in Penrith, and explained that the recruiting will occur over the next four years. 

“We are investing $2.8 billion to recruit thousands of extra nurses, midwives and frontline staff to care for patients,” Ms Berejiklian said. 

“Patients in NSW will now have more nurses to look after them and nurses will have more colleagues to share the workload all due to our strong economic management,” Ms Berejiklian said. “This is unprecedented. We have never seen a boost to the workforce done on this scale.” 

Deputy Premier John Barilaro said that almost half of new nurses and midwives will be employed in regional areas. 

The investment will fund targeted areas of services and workforce. This includes 5000 nurse and midwives across NSW, 1060 doctors, 1360 hospital support staff and 880 additional allied health staff including pharmacists, social workers, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and psychologists. 

Overall, there will be a total of 8300 frontline staff, including doctors, allied health and other professional added to the workforce. 

For Sydney, Western Sydney will receive 456 extra nurses and midwives, while Northern Sydney will receive 408. 

Nepean Hospital in Penrith, where the announcement was made, will receive an extra 329 nurses and midwives.