Just days after Illawarra paramedics spoke out about a horror night where patients waited more than eight hours on a stretcher at Wollongong Hospital, ambulance workers across the state have voted to amp up their industrial action.
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On Thursday, NSW Paramedics launched an escalation of their ongoing action, after voting to implement a month of work bans where they will refuse to be reassigned to different stations once they have started their shift.
Members of the two paramedics unions, the Australian Paramedics Association (NSW) and the Health Services Union, are calling on the government to make commitments in the upcoming state budget to improve resourcing, pay, and patient care.
They say current conditions are dangerous and unsustainable, with the majority of members reporting missed breaks, excessive overtime, and dangerous fatigue.
A members survey conducted by the APA last month found that almost nine out of 10 paramedics were missing more than half their scheduled breaks, while four out of five said they felt too fatigued to drive home safely.
About 30 per cent of paramedics reported being asked to respond to a patient after identifying they were fatigued, the union said.
On Monday night in Wollongong, paramedics from the Health Services Union raised the alarm after eight of the region's ambulances became stuck in queues waiting to unload patients at Wollongong Hospital.
Union delegate Tess Oxley said multiple workers were left finishing their 12-hour shifts more than 2.5 hours later than they were supposed to, with day shift on-call workers also caught in the hospital bed block.
APA (NSW) Assistant Secretary Alan O'Riordan said the state of the health care system showed the state government needed to prioritise health at the state budget.
"The government needs to step up and make firm commitments to address the needs of frontline workers," he said.
"Our demands aren't going to go away. It's our job to give patients the best care that we can, and right now that care is being compromised by the crisis in resourcing."
In addition to their ban on staff movements, APA members will also implement a 24-hour ban each Monday on 'R6' and 'R7' jobs: refusing to undertake non-urgent patient transfers from hospitals after routine or post-treatment discharges.
The unions are calling for 1500 additional paramedics to be funded, as well as meaningful investment in referral networks and specialist paramedic programs to improve patient care.
"We are deeply disappointed the Government has looked the other way as workers cry for help," Mr O'Riordan said.
"Paramedics have been pushed beyond the limits of fatigue... through heightened risk, excessive workload, continuous exhaustion, and the worst morale in living memory."
"If the Government fails to meaningfully invest in a safer, fairer workplace, they'll be staring down the barrel of a mass exodus of highly skilled and qualified workers."
During previous rounds of industrial action, NSW Ambulance has pointed to the government's investment.
It said in 2020-21 the government invested more than $1 billion in the service, including $27 million for 180 new staff, the third tranche of the 2018 commitment to recruit 750 more paramedic and control centre staff over four years.
In June 2021, it announced a wage increase of up to 2.5 per cent in response to NSW's economic rebound from COVID-19.
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