Media release – Health and Community Services Union, (HACSU), 22 March 2024
“We just want to do our job”: Ambulance workers to take industrial action over ramping
Ambulance workers today voted to implement industrial action in response to the failure of the government and the Department of Health to enforce a starter that puts an end to ambulance ramping.
Tasmania’s largest union warned of mounting unrest among ambulance members following their appearance before the parliamentary select committee into ramping in December. Ambulance response times in Tasmania were already the worst in the country. They have now swelled to nearly double the recommended time for urgent calls and continue to get worse.
The root of the issue lies in an inability of the government and the department to implement their much-lauded cap on ambulance ramping, resulting in a reliance on paramedics working in hospital emergency departments and chronic amounts of overtime from paramedics and communications officers.
Despite promises from the government of added staffing, many positions are either not permanently funded or remain vacant, leading to an overreliance on overtime as the primary solution.
HACSU Industrial Manager Lucas Digney expressed deep concern over the deteriorating situation: “It’s making our members sick. They’re dealing with the worst response times, and there is absolutely no plan to fix it.”
“We demand nothing short of immediate action to enable the nation’s busiest ambulance workers to just be able to their jobs without being stuck in the emergency department or wondering how to dispatch an ambulance when none are available, all while dealing with distressed calls for assistance.”
The union called direct attention to the physical and emotional toll on paramedics and ambulance communications workers, stressing that the burden of an underfunded and chaotic health system should not impede their ability to respond to medical emergencies in the community.
