Rural NSW doctors, nurses welcome 10,000 extra jobs pledge but say more details needed

The NSW government says 40 per cent of the new recruits will be based in rural and regional areas.  (ABC Central West: Joanna Woodburn )

The New South Wales government is being asked how it plans to find the healthcare staff to fill more than 10,000 new jobs.

The Premier Dominic Perrottet yesterday announced a multi-billion dollar investment to hire thousands of doctors, nurses, midwives, allied health professionals and non-clinical staff over the next four years.

The government wants the majority of the jobs filled in the next 12 months.

"It's a great idea if it can be done," Rural Doctors' Association NSW president Charles Evill said. 

Premier Perrottet says the government has discussed what options there are to source the staff.

"We are confident that there are many people who've already gone through that training that are ready to go and maybe working in other areas now," Mr Perrottet said.

Rural and regional nurses have been calling for NSW to introduce nurse-to-patient ratios. (ABC Broken Hill: Bill Ormonde)

He also said he would speak to the federal government about the need for NSW to directly source overseas-trained medical professionals. 

"The state should be able to provide a list of those areas where we need specialist training and skills and have targeted immigration to allow us to fill these positions," he said. 

But Dr Evill said the process of getting an international doctor into the NSW Health system could take a lot longer than a year.

"I would be surprised if they could move 1,000 more of those over the next 12 months," he said.

Dr Evill said there was a solution closer to home. 

"We're aware of a number of GPs already working in rural towns who've become disenchanted with the public health system," he said. 

The NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard (left) and Premier Dominic Perrottet say most of the staff will be in place within the next 12 months. (AAP: Dean Lewins)

Rural roles

The state government is promising that 40 per cent of the jobs will be based in rural and regional NSW.

But there is no detail as to how many and what type of staff will be assigned to each local health district.  

Tracey Coyte from the Nurses' and Midwives' Association says they welcome any injection of healthcare staff, but more specifics are needed. 

"There are currently huge vacancies in nursing and midwifery workforce," she said.

She said the biggest disappointment was that the state government was still refusing to fall in line with other states on staffing. 

"There was no mention of the nurse-to-patient ratio, which is what our members desperately, desperately want and need, "Ms Coyte said. 

The Nurses' and Midwives' Association says it is due to meet representatives from the health department in the next week.