Ms Sarah Gallagher1,2, Dr Stephen Barrett1
1Bendigo Health, Bendigo, Australia, 2Loddon Mallee Health Network, , Australia
Biography:
Sarah is a project lead for the Strengthening Our Allied Health Recruitment and Retention (SOAR) Project in the Loddon Mallee region of Victoria. Experiences which have shaped Sarah’s career include:
– Growing up in a small rural town with only a Bush Nurse and visiting doctors
– Working as an occupational therapist in regional community allied health services
– Supervising rural and regional allied health professionals
– Leading a regional project exploring professional support for allied health clinicians
– Convincing her partner to move from Melbourne to Bendigo, to align with her work on regional workforce retention
Purpose/Background:
The Strengthening Our Allied Health Recruitment and Retention (SOAR) project aims to identify, develop and implement workforce strategies across allied health teams in 19 public and community health services in north-west Victoria. To inform these strategies, workforce data has been collected and analysed, including vacancy numbers and duration, average length of service, annual turnover rate, and workforce retention probabilities.
Method:
Workforce data were extracted from employee management systems, including employer, profession, start date, and (if applicable) end date. Vacancy data were collected from allied health managers. Statistical analyses were conducted in Excel and STATA. Trends in workforce retention and turnover were compared across allied health disciplines, age groups, service types (community, small rural, rural, or regional), and sub-regions to identify key patterns and variations.
Results:
Analysis of data from 1,988 professionals is underway. Preliminary findings indicate an 89% probability of retaining staff at one year, decreasing to 65% at five years. Average length of stay is lowest for independent community health services and exercise physiologists, and highest for allied health assistants, psychologists, and individuals aged 36–45 years.
Discussion:
Findings will be used to inform workforce strategies such as intra-organisation rotations, prioritisation of targeted support for particular sub-groups, and investment in grow-your-own pathways. Other organisations interested in collecting and using allied health workforce data to improve recruitment and retention may benefit from learning about enablers and challenges identified through this research.