Goulburn will secure a further five paramedics as part of the state government's promise of 500 more ambulance officers across rural, regional and remote NSW.
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Health minister Ryan Park made the announcement in Goulburn on Friday, September 15. He was joined by NSW Ambulance commissioner, David Dutton, and Health Services Union (HSU) secretary, Gerard Hayes.
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Mr Park said $438.6 million would be allocated in Tuesday's budget for the 500 paramedics. This will be rolled out over the next few years.
"The HSU has been advocating for more paramedics for some time. We know, coming out of the Rural and Regional Health Inquiry, that access to paramedics is a challenge," he said
"We knew we had to make a dedicated investment in rural and regional areas..."
He believed it would improve ambulance response times for life threatening callouts and patient experiences.
Asked how it would be funded, Mr Park would only say the government had "budgetary challenges."
Nor did he give any guarantee that paramedics would be paid more. The HSU has been waging a campaign for a 30 to 35 per cent wage rise and professional recognition for paramedics for several years. In August, the union rejected the government's four per cent offer.
Mr Hayes said while it "sounded like a lot," paramedics' wages had not risen in the past 10 to 12 years.
"Other states have gone forward (in terms of pay increases). It also goes to paramedics being professionally recognised," he said.
Mr Hayes argued this was enticing NSW paramedics to other states. In addition, Ireland was also reaching out for Australian ambulance officers. As such, it would be difficult to recruit a further 500 paramedics but if they were, they'd "make a life saving difference."
While Mr Park supported the union's push, Mr Hayes said the real fight was with treasurer, Daniel Mookhey.
The Minister conceded there was more work to do and said he'd continue "deep and robust" engagement with the HSU on both matters.
"I understand very clearly that it's an important part of moving forward," he said.
The 500 figure was settled upon following discussions with unions, including the HSU, and the ambulance service.
Mr Hayes said the number was "getting close to where it needed to be."
Mr Dutton welcomed the announcement and said NSW Ambulance would work through "how it played out on the ground" in coming months.
Asked how the government would overcome the traditional difficulty in recruiting health sector workers in rural areas, Mr Park said Labor was doubling financial and non-financial incentives for workers to move to the regions. This included study subsidies for students and graduates.
"We are trying to build a pipeline (of workers) for the future," he said.
"We know in NSW the real challenge is to have enough (health) staff so they don't burn out. The other is to have incentives at the front-end for training, and professional recognition. That's what the HSU is advocating and it will be a focus going forward."
Mr Hayes said the government's special commission of inquiry into NSW health spending offered an opportunity to examine "waste" and redistribute funding within the sector.
He told The Post that the extra paramedics would also ease burdens on hospitals.
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