The union representing NSW’s Paramedic workforce says the neglect and ruin shown in last night’s 60 Minutes exposé are commonplace across the state’s regional healthcare system, stemming from successive governments’ repudiation of the issue.
“What was covered in the 60 Minutes story won’t come as news to myself or to any Paramedic who has served our regional communities”, said Scott Beaton, Vice President of Australian Paramedics Association (NSW) and a working Paramedic from Gilgandra.
“In places like Lightning Ridge and Coonamble you’ve got hospitals which do not have a single doctor on the weekend or a weeknight after 10pm.
“Using ‘virtual doctors’ is all well and good for a small number of patients, but if you need the kind of hands-on care that brings people to hospital, it doesn’t work. You can’t give stitches through a screen.
“Instead the Paramedics have to transfer patients four hours to the next town with a hospital, which leaves the first place with no doctor and no paramedics. The system is a mess.”
Mr. Beaton says this problem is amplified by a lack of funding for specialised Paramedic roles, including Intensive and Extended Care Paramedics, who could otherwise help fill gaps left by a lack of hospital coverage.
“Rural NSW desperately needs Paramedics with advanced skills, but the only funding for these roles is in metropolitan centres. Our union has been lobbying on this for years.”
APA (NSW) are hopeful change can happen through an ongoing Parliamentary Inquiry into rural, remote and regional health outcomes, for which they surveyed their extensive membership to lodge a submission representing Paramedic voices.
“When it comes to Ambulance, we’re hoping it delivers a better funding model so we can deliver the best quality of healthcare that we can for all people in NSW—not just those east of the Great Dividing Range”, said Mr. Beaton.
“The Statewide Workforce Enhancement Program has so far failed to add a single extra Paramedic car or crew to anywhere in regional NSW except Wagga. That isn’t good enough.
“Right now, an under resourced health system is sabotaging the best efforts of the many fantastic doctors, nurses, paramedics and allied health workers striving to deliver better outcomes for regional and rural people.”
Scott Beaton and other APA (NSW) Delegates are available
