WE DESERVE BETTER

What will it take to fix the crisis?

So far, the NSW Government has announced a massive increase to our staffing levels, with funding for an additional 2128 Paramedics and support staff positions , as well as 30 new Paramedic stations.

This is a good step, but we need to be clear: without systemic, statewide reform, more Paramedics will simply mean more crews in bed block. And in a short decade or so, we will be right back to where we are today, with critical staffing shortages and a failing healthcare system.

We're calling for six simple actions that will make a real and lasting difference to the pressures on our healthcare system, the experience of frontline staff, and the quality of care patients receive.

SIGN the PETITION TO SUPPORT our 6 demands SIGN the PETITION TO SUPPORT our 6 demands

These actions will improve healthcare for everyone in NSW, not just those in metropolitan and peri-urban areas. While the Government originally committed to allocating 40% of new positions to regional areas, there is almost zero dedicated funding from this announcement for more Paramedics beyond Newcastle and Wollongong. We think everyone in NSW deserves better care.

More specialists

To provide advanced clinical care and help avoid unnecessary patient transports

The two primary specialist groups are Extended Care (ECP) and Intensive Care Paramedics (ICP).

ECPs can treat patients at home, performing procedures such as sutures (stitches), providing antibiotics, and fixing catheters and gastronomy tubes. They save the health system hundreds and thousands of dollars for every patient diverted from an Emergency Department.

ICPs have advanced life saving skills such as intubation. In regional settings where there is no GP in town, an ICP is often the next most highly qualified clinician. Recently, when the town of Wellington, NSW was without a doctor for days, NSW Health specifically sent a dual ICP/ECP Paramedic to address the community's needs.

Despite clearly recognising the value of specialists, the NSW Government is seeking to limit the number of specialist Paramedics in regional communities. In some situations, they will try to strip a specialist qualification from a Paramedic once they relocate to a regional town.

APA (NSW) is demanding:

• Removal of any limits on where specialist Paramedics can operate
• A massive investment in the ECP program regionally Page 2 of 3
• Investment in safety protocols and management structures for the ECP program, to ensure our ECPs are looked after. It’s a tough job, and they need a lot of support.

Accessible Primary Care

To improve patient outcomes and reduce the burden on emergency services.

Every Paramedic, every day, goes to a patient who has had to call 000 as a last resort, because they couldn’t access a GP.

We’re demanding that state and federal governments work together to:
• Expand the number of bulk billing community care centres
• Incentivise regional work for GPs • Support GPs to bulk bill
• Increase healthcare resources for regional communities

A functioning emergency healthcare system requires a functioning primary and community healthcare system. One cannot exist without the other.

Fairer wages & end to the wage cap

To fairly value staff and keep us in the job

Paramedics in NSW have had three successive pay cuts in three years. We are continuously losing Paramedics to other states and countries who have better pay and conditions. We are burnt out. Over the last decade, we have gained dozens of new skills that save the health system money and improve patient outcomes. We are asked to do more and more, for less and less. A pay rise that reflects the value we bring to the health system as professionals is desperately needed. Public sector workers will only get a fair pay rise when the wage cap on public sector jobs is abolished.

24/7 Patient Transport

To keep ambulances free for emergency responses.

In a single recent quarter, NSW Ambulance Paramedics undertook 187,381 patient transports.

Many of these could be undertaken by specialist Patient Transport Officers. By employing Patient Transport Officers the NSW Government would ensure that Paramedics remain available when emergencies occur. Regional, rural and remote communities are left particularly vulnerable when Paramedics undertake lengthy patient transports, as they are often the only resource available to that community.

Invest in regional health

Real action to improve resourcing and Training, resourcing, PTOs

A recent Senate Inquiry into the state of our regional healthcare system was damning, finding that: “residents of rural, regional and remote New South Wales have poorer health outcomes and inferior access to health and hospital services, and face significant financial challenges in accessing these services, compared to their metropolitan counterparts”.

The NSW Government failed to meaningfully engage and support the findings of the inquiry, and refused to endorse Paramedics push for regional communities to have more specialist Paramedics. Barely any of the recent announcement of 1858 Paramedics will be going to regional or rural areas, despite claims from the NSW Government that 40% of the announced health staffing increase would go to regional communities.

We need to see regional communities put first, including:

• Allowing for regional specialist training and skills consolidation
• Review of which regional hospitals require staffing and equipment enhancements
• More Patient Transport Officers
• Investing in reliable communication networks to ensure Paramedic safety

Reform triaging systems

To better manage calls and ensure patients get the most appropriate care.

Too often, emergency patients are missed by our triaging system, and low acuity patients are misclassified as emergency patients.

As just one example, our triaging system can lead to someone experiencing a minor anxiety attack being prioritised over someone who has been in a car crash. Our triaging system needs to foreground the clinical experience of Paramedics.

A comprehensive review into the failures of the triaging system must be conducted. The review should prioritise patient, Paramedic, dispatcher and call-taker experiences of the triaging system. Data does not tell the whole story – people do.