Assistants, kaiāwhina, ancillary workers and support staff.

The growth area for increasing the health workforce is developing career pathways to an under-utilised workforce such as those listed above.  The delegation of tasks and responsibilities already exists amongst most professions, but yet to be fully explored or considered by others.

Cadetships (earn and learn), designating students as assistants (earn and learn), new trainee roles (earn and learn), upskilling or specialising existing roles (earn and learn).  Create and develop workplace opportunities to those not known to health or those within.

Develop corresponding and appropriate NZQA level training programmes which are based upon respective undergraduate programmes in order to stair case assistants or trainees to those tertiary programmes, but also recognise this prior learning (NZQA) and clinical hours to reduce duration of programme.  Enable assistants or trainees to retain their FTE (reduced) roles to continuously (earn and learn).

This creates a continuous and additional pipeline to tertiary qualified clinicians, but also builds workforce capacity to existing services and enables options for those who may want to seek higher qualifications or those who prefer assistant roles.

Much of clinical work can be delegated and undertaken by assistants or support staff to enable 'top of scope' health service delivery by clinicians which inceases face to face health care by both the clinician and assistant simultaneously or inconjunction to each other.

Professional bodies, training institutions, and health organisations need to work together and agree that this is a viable and realistic option to addressing their respective workforce crisis.  

It's an alternative to some of the medium to long-term options of focusing on qualified clinicians to emerge from universities or overseas, but also for those professions where those two options have limitations of applicants.