Helping to improve the health of nurses to cut absenteeism and providing people with more self-care options are among strategies proposed to relieve pressures in the ACT health workforce, a government report has found.

The ACT Government Health Directorate discussion paper and the subsequent public submissions will help to design the territory's health workforce plan for 2012-2017. The report acknowledged the issue of workforce retention and said new graduates are leaving after one or two years in the system. The plan will focus on health professionals and support workers but its strategies also aim to assist other health services. The paper highlights an increasing demand for services because of an ageing population, coupled with a health workforce that is ageing even faster. It also outlines the need to...