Following a state-wide review, an additional relief paramedic will be placed at four Southern NSW stations, Merimbula, Moruya, Narooma and Bega, NSW Ambulance has told Fairfax Media.
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The statement comes in response to concerns from the Health Services Union (HSU) about the new roster for paramedics at Merimbula.
“In regional and rural NSW the distance (travel time) can be a contributing factor to response performance. To meet local demand, NSW Ambulance is working to progressively implement 24 hour on-duty operations at a number of stations that have not traditionally operated under this model,” a spokesman for NSW Ambulance said.
“NSW Ambulance recently increased staff allocations to support 24 hour on-duty operations at Merimbula Ambulance Station, which will further assist in improving response times to surrounding communities.
“The new Merimbula roster has been impacted by one paramedic taking urgent unplanned leave and one paramedic resignation. NSW Ambulance is currently actively recruiting to sustain roster lines.
“NSW Ambulance has strategies in place to manage surges in demand for paramedic services, including the deployment of resources from areas of lower demand to areas of higher demand, as well as working with Healthdirect to provide alternative care for those patients experiencing non-life threatening complaints,” the spokesman said.
As shown by the recent BHI report, NSW Ambulance is seeing a continued increase in demand for emergency medical responses across the state, with NSW Ambulance providing 277,218 individual ambulance responses from January to March this year, 1.2 per cent more than the same quarter last year.
“Despite this increase in demand, response times measured from the point of the initial call through to the ambulance arrival at scene has remained stable for the most urgent priority cases over the past three years,” the spokesman said.
