Paramedics have launched month-long industrial action in response to the current unstable and dangerous working conditions, calling on the NSW Government to improve resourcing, pay and patient care.
The Australian Paramedics Association (APA) launched week-long industrial action against the NSW Government and NSW Ambulance on April 11 but has since escalated to month-long action, which started on April 18.
The escalation comes after the NSW Government did not act on the APA’s demands for a wage increase, 1500 additional paramedics and meaningful investment in referral networks and specialist programs to improve patient care.
“Morale is very low; they are overwhelmed, exhausted, suffering significant levels of PTSD and leaving their jobs because of the enormous workload without any reasonable recognition or remuneration,” said APA President, Chris Kastelan.
“These are all symptoms of a broken system.
“NSW Ambulance has previously asked paramedics to cancel and reschedule their annual leave because of such significant staff shortages—that is the wrong message to be sending to an already tired workforce.”
On April 21, it was reported that during the 12 hour night shift, there was just one ambulance covering Newcastle and one intensive care vehicle covering the entire region.
Day shift crews had also taken ambulances home to be on call.
Kastelan said there had also been unprecedented bed block issues at John Hunter Hospital and Maitland Hospital.
“Paramedics are waiting hours in ambulance bays for the hospital to find room for the new patients; they are looking after their patients on ambulance stretches, in emergency department corridors and in the backs of their ambulances,” he said.
“In the last month, we have heard of nearly 150 cases where paramedics have had to work greater than 16 hours in a row, with some working 18 hours continuously with no breaks.
“Paramedics have a very high sense of civic duty; they make decisions based on the resilience and wellbeing of others, potentially to the detriment of their own wellbeing because they know their community needs them.
“That’s why we have launched industrial action. There seems to be a disconnect between the policymakers who tell us everything is fine and the paramedics on the road who are experiencing it all.”
APA has advised their members across NSW to refuse undertaking ‘staff movements’, a practice where paramedics are re-assigned from their designated station once on shift.
For 24 hours every Monday, the union have also implemented a ban on ‘R6’ and ‘R7’ jobs which entails refusing to undertake non-urgent patient transfers from hospitals after routine or post-treatment discharges.
“Refusing staff movements means refusing to abandon your community to help the service cover up for shortfalls somewhere else,” Kastelan said.
“NSW deserves a properly resourced healthcare system.
“It’s completely unacceptable that we’re relying on a last-minute reshuffle of scant resources to get a single ambulance to our communities.
“We want enough crews on the road to cover the rosters. This shouldn’t be a radical proposal.”
The majority of APA members have reported missed breaks, excessive overtime and dangerous fatigue, with a newly released union survey finding 87 per cent of paramedics missed more than half of their scheduled breaks during the past month.
Additionally, in the last month, 80 per cent said they had felt too fatigued to drive home safely, and 30 per cent had been asked to respond to a patient after identifying that they were too fatigued.
State Member for Newcastle, Tim Crakanthorp, said crews from Hamilton had previously been sent to Port Stephens and the Central Coast to cover shortfalls.
“NSW paramedics are the lowest paid in Australia and are also subject to the public sector wage cap, which keeps their pay increases below the rate of inflation,” Crakanthorp said.
“The NSW Government is not even engaging in the very first step of fixing this – sitting down with paramedics and the unions and having a meaningful discussion.
“Our paramedics have to witness and deal with horrible situations many of us will never have to; valuing this work and investing in the resources needed to complete their jobs should be a no brainer.”
From 2020 to 2021, the NSW Government invested more than $1 billion into NSW Ambulance, including $27 million for 180 new staff, in addition to the 2018 commitment to recruit 750 more paramedics and control centre staff over four years.
In June 2021, it was also announced that a wage increase of up to 2.5 per cent was to be implemented.
Last year, the APA won a historic victory on ambulance resourcing before the Industrial Relations Commission.
After three years of formal disputation, NSW Ambulance was ordered to update minimum crewing requirements.
This resulted in Hunter Zone 1 being awarded four extra day shift ambulances and two extra ambulances for afternoon shifts.
“Unfortunately, from the time of the commission hearing to where we are now, that is already wildly out of date,” Kastelan said.
“NSW Ambulance only has about 47 paramedics per 100,000 population whereas Victoria and Queensland have nearly 70 per 100,000, so we are significantly under-resourced.
“Leading into the state budget and the state elections next year, we are hoping that the community, the parliamentarians and NSW Ambulance can recognise that this is really something that needs to be addressed.
“We need a paramedic service that is fit for purpose before it’s required, rather than constantly being in this reactive state. We want to provide the best care we possibly can to our communities.”
Hayley McMahon