The Marshall Liberal Government will invest in 51 FTE paramedics to expand the SA Ambulance Service’s capacity to respond to increasing demand, further boosting the state’s record number of ambulance officers in South Australia.
The $30 million investment will see the paramedics on the road within 12 months.
Premier Steven Marshall said the announcement builds on the significant investment already put into the South Australian Ambulance Service (SAAS), whose budget this year has increased by $28 million compared to Labor’s last budget, with South Australia spending more per capita on our ambulances than any other mainland state or territory, according to the recent Productivity Commission report on government services.
“Since coming to power we have invested record amounts into our state’s health system, and there are now more doctors, nurses and ambulance officers in South Australia than ever before,” Premier Marshall said.
“Today’s investment is based on the advice of SAAS regarding what is needed to support the demand for our ambulance service going forward. It comes in addition to the 74 FTE ambulance officers announced in the current State Budget, as well as a doubling of the paramedic intake last year and in 2022.
“While Labor appears to be more interested in making unrealistic promises and seeking headlines on a roadshow, we are putting real money into our ambulance service and investing in real outcomes, basing our investment on the advice of the experts and what’s best for South Australia.
“Together with our record $2.8 billion hospital build program and the establishment of capacity for up to 500 dedicated COVID beds across the health system, our investment has helped see ramping reduce by a quarter in South Australia since October, in the midst of the Omicron outbreak.
“South Australians can be assured that as we have done throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, this Government will invest whatever is required to protect South Australians and address any health challenges we face.”
Minister for Health and Wellbeing Stephen Wade said the 51 FTE increase is another key investment to support the ambulance service.
“We have worked closely with SAAS to boost resources to the ambulance service, particularly in response to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the strong advice is that these 51 FTE paramedics will provide an additional 40,000 crewing hours to help respond to demand going forward,” Minister Wade said.
“This builds on a similar increase in crewing hours that was achieved in 2021, as well as a doubling of SAAS’ regular paramedic intake both last year and again in 2022. We have also hired more Triple Zero call takers and formed a standby workforce of up to 100 final year paramedicine students to support patient transport through the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This investment builds on sensible industrial reforms that are being introduced to ensure additional crews have the maximum impact and the greatest benefit to South Australians in need of care.
“This investment will enable SAAS to establish additional 10.5 hour shifts to ensure more ambulance and paramedics are on the road at times of peak demand as an expansion of the new shift model it has recently introduced.”
“Encouragingly, we have seen significant improvements in the time ambulances are spending on the ramp and patient flow at our hospitals in recent months and we are continuing to invest in our health services to support them in continuing their good work.”
“The Government will be making further announcements on ambulance services during the campaign.”
