The Medical journal of Australia
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To assess the adequacy of the Northern Territory health workforce with respect to population size and burden of disease, overall and by selected health specialties; to assess its sustainability by investigating changes in workforce numbers. ⋯ Health worker population density alone does not reliably assess health workforce needs; burden of disease information is important for workforce planning that meets population health needs. The NT health workforce needs to be increased by about 28% to reflect the population burden of disease and injury. Shortages in the NT health workforce must be eliminated to close health gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
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To identify research and development priorities for virtual care following the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic from the perspective of key stakeholders (patients, clinicians, informaticians and academics). ⋯ As the health system recalibrates with the return of in-person care, there is a growing need to demonstrate the value of virtual care models to patients, the health system, and society at large. Demonstrating this value while also demonstrating improvements to health outcomes will future-proof virtual care, enabling it to be used to address broader challenges of health care delivery. In addition, sustaining virtual care will depend on robust operational structures and workforce training and education. As services evolve, research and development priorities must be revisited to ensure that translational research aligns with stakeholder interests.