Before the last State election, I made a promise to the people of NSW, to recruit additional new nurses and invest in our healthcare system.

Last week I announced that 520 new nurses and midwives will begin work in our public hospitals.

This next generation of healthcare workers are already making a positive impact on the lives of the patients, visitors and the communities they serve.

Each of these nurses and midwives play an important role in helping the NSW public health system continue to deliver the care that patients expect when visiting our hospitals and health services across the state.

This announcement is a key part of my plan to increase staffing in our hospitals which also includes a $97 million package to subsidise study for people choosing a career in health.

The $12,000 subsidies, spread across three years will be available for over 2,000 students.

My Government has also committed $1.8 million to the establishment of a dedicated Paediatric Heart Transplant service at The Children’s Hospital in Westmead.

This means that children in need of heart transplants will be able to receive life-saving surgery in NSW.

The new service will reduce some of the financial and emotional stress for sick children and their families and enable them to access care closer to home.

If your child needs an urgent heart transplant, you have enough worries without needing to stress about interstate travel.

These are the first steps to delivering on our promise and we want to send a message to our nurses that they are valued and appreciated for the life saving work they do.

As Premier of NSW, I am committed to recruiting additional nurses and ensuring NSW has a world class healthcare system.

Yours sincerely,

The Hon. Chris Minns MP
Premier of New South Wales
Member for Kogarah