Record number of new nurses and midwives for northern Adelaide

The Malinauskas Government is continuing to build the state’s health workforce now and into the future with a record number of graduate registered nurses and midwives about to start across northern Adelaide.

The boost to the state’s nursing ranks comes as the recruitment of hundreds more ambos result in the best February ambulance response times for lights and sirens emergencies in the past five years.

For the first time, all graduate nurses and midwives at the Northern Adelaide Local Health Network (NALHN) – which includes the Lyell McEwin Hospital and Modbury Hospital – have been guaranteed permanent contracts once they complete the 12-month program. This year’s record intake of 218 new nurses and midwives surpasses the previous record of 187 in 2023.

Overall, a total of 944 graduate nurses, midwives and registered nurses in aged and community care are part of the Transition to Professional Practice Program (TPPP) across the state.

This is a 13.5 per cent increase on last year’s intake of 832, and underlines the State Government’s commitment to boosting our health workforce and providing quality care to South Australians. The same goes for the Government’s investment into SA Ambulance Service, which has led to further improvements in ambulance response times for metro Adelaide.

New data released today shows that in February 2025, 72.9 per cent of Priority 1 cases arrived within the recommended time of eight minutes, while 64.0 per cent of Priority 2 cases arrived within the recommended time of 16 minutes.

These are the best February Priority 1 and Priority 2 ambulance response times since February 2020. It’s also a big improvement compared to February 2022 under the former Liberal Government, when just 58.3 per cent of P1 cases and 54.5 per cent of P2 cases arrived within recommended times.

An extra 1,901 South Australians were seen on time in February 2025 compared to February 2022, while a fewer 427 people were not seen on time last month compared to the same month three years ago.

South Australian metro ambulance response times

Date	Priority 1	Priority 2
February 2020	74.1 per cent	78.7 per cent
February 2021	64.5 per cent	64.0 per cent
February 2022	58.3 per cent	54.5 per cent
February 2023	63.2 per cent	53.2 per cent
February 2024	70.4 per cent	64.4 per cent
February 2025	72.9 per cent	64.9 per cent

The 12-month TPPP program enables newly qualified registered nurses and midwives to start their first year of clinical practice in a supported education program while being mentored by experienced nurses and midwives and building their skills and capability.

Some have already begun their jobs and others will join their Local Health Network in coming months.

The influx of graduate nurses and midwives follows on from the largest-ever recruitment of intern doctors across the state, with 313 medical interns allocated jobs across the 10 Local Health Networks in 2025.

NALHN serves more than 460,000 people across the growing outer northern suburbs and includes the Lyell McEwin and Modbury Hospitals, GP Plus health care clinics and mental health services.

The State Government has made a substantial investment in the northern suburbs, building 48 new beds at the Lyell McEwin Hospital that opened in August last year.

An additional 12 new fast-tracked acute surgical beds are due to open by mid-2025, with another 20 new acute beds due to open by end of this year.

Over at Modbury Hospital, a brand-new cancer centre and 44 mental health beds are currently under construction.

One-hundred new positions for medical officers, nurses, midwives and allied health and pharmacy staff have also been created in NALHN.

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Quotes

Attributable to Chris Picton

The State Government is building a bigger health system, and that requires more doctors and nurses to provide care to South Australians.

This is why we have a record intake of graduate registered nurses and midwives in the Northern Adelaide Local Health Network, and a 13 per cent increase across the state last year.

Over the next 12 months, they will gain experience, knowledge and clinical skills as they work with teams of skilled staff across the state.

These appointments support the work done to create more capacity in public hospitals by opening more beds and hiring more doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics and allied health workers.

We have also hired hundreds more ambos and opened nine new or upgraded stations, which has contributed to the best Priority 1 and Priority 2 response times for February in the past five years.

Attributable to Department for Health and Wellbeing Chief Nurse and Midwifery Officer Jenny Hurley

Our nurses and midwives provide high-quality person and women-centred care for South Australians across the life span.

This is an exciting year for recently graduated registered nurses and midwives as they consolidate their skills and confidence in a rich learning and caring environment.

They will gain vital workplace experience and training in supportive clinical settings across a broad range of services and are key to building and growing the nursing and midwifery workforce.

They will also be making a huge difference to the lives of the people they care for every day, and I am extremely pleased to see such a large TPPP intake and the value this will bring to the health system.

Attributable to NALHN Executive Director Nursing and Midwifery Vanessa Owen

Employing extra graduates reflects NAHLN’s commitment to maintaining a competent and safe workforce to serve our community. As the network continues to expand, we want to ensure a proactive approach to staffing levels.

After completing orientation our new nurses and midwives will begin work on the wards. While they have already completed at least 800 hours of clinical placements as nursing students, their new roles involve new duties and responsibility. They will work with the support and guidance of more experienced staff throughout their first year.