Thousands of paramedics will refuse to work on Monday amid a desperate call to the NSW government to improve staffing levels as nurses are considering walking off the job for the second time this year.
NSW paramedics launched the 24-hour industrial work bans on Monday, when xjmtzywstaff will refuse to leave their allocated station to fill roster gaps in a sign of growing agitation with the state’s public sector.
Paramedics are pushing for an additional 1500 staff and a pay rise of more than 2.5 per cent.
They say the lives of NSW residents are being put at risk because the government is delaying a “serious funding reform” for NSW Ambulance.
NSW paramedic and delegate of the Australian Paramedics Association Brett Simpson said the staffing crisis gripping the industry had never been seen before.
Mr Simpson said there were about 50 emergency cases requiring an ambulance overnight, but no crews were available.
“I just didn’t have a crew to attend so we have got no idea how long those people waited but the crisis is here and it is gripping all parts of NSW,” he told Sunrise on Monday.
“Every day the government delays a funding reform for NSW ambulance is another day they are choosing to put the community at risk.
“We have some of the lowest paramedic to population ratios in the country and on opponent … NSW ambulance is one of the worst funded ambulance services in the country.”
Mr Simpson said paramedics want the same staffing ratios that are seen in other states, while pay is also a “big problem”.
He said a large number of staff are being lost to other states purely because NSW has the lowest ratio in the country.
“I could go and work in Melbourne and make an extra $30,000 a year,” Mr Simpson said.
NSW Health Services Union secretary Gerard Hayes said intensive care paramedic numbers were being depleted.
“The service has been dropping those crews and getting one of the partners to work with other people,” he told 2GB’s Ben Fordham.
“An intensive care paramedic is a highly skilled paramedic with enhanced skills … the clinical care that needs to be given to support other paramedics is being watered down.”
Mr Hayes said there were 23 instances in the past month where there were no ICU paramedics on shift.
“It is really bad,” he said.
“It puts the community in harm’s way.”
While paramedics are striking on Monday, nurses across the state are voting on a strike for March 31 which could also run for 24 hours.
Nurses are seeking a 4.75 per cent pay rise and are also asking for an increase in nurse to patient ratios on every shift.
They are also wanting a boost to maternity staff.
The NSW Nurses and Midwives Association held a strike on February 15, when thousands of nurses walked off the job for the first time in a decade.
Union representatives met Premier Dominic Perrottet and Health Minister Brad Hazzard just six days later where the issues of pay and staffing were raised, but nothing was resolved.
