The regional town of Loxton (256 kilometres west of Adelaide) with a population of just 4,500 is offering free aged care training at its local hospital, with scholarships available for those interested in working in the sector.
Loxton and District Health Advisory Council presiding member, Sally Goode, said the unique training model showed the community “was willing to invest its fundraising efforts in providing education that improved local service standards”.
"We set up a partnership with a registered training organisation and they train local residents to become Certificate III personal support attendants and we do the training here at the hospital . . . and their clinical placement in aged care," she said.
First run last year, the program has cost Loxton roughly $7,000 (plus administrative and volunteer hours) to run, while an additional $2,000 training cost per participant is covered by a SA Government subsidy.
