New Health Minister Guy Barnett must value and respect our paramedic workforce and convert those paramedics on short-term contracts to permanent positions.
Earlier this week, a number of permanent paramedic jobs were publicly advertised despite the fact many paramedics across the state are still on short-term contracts.
Minister Barnett should commit as a matter of priority to appointing those workers currently employed on short-term arrangements to these permanent positions providing much needed job security.
The insecure working arrangements are making it extremely difficult to recruit and retain paramedics in Tasmania, who are enticed elsewhere by better pay, conditions and permanent work.
Across the North-West there are eight full-time equivalent vacancies with a number of paramedic shifts going unfilled, putting further pressure on regional ambulance stations and our emergency departments.
Understandably, our paramedics are burnt-out and any remaining goodwill is fading.
Even the government’s own Operational Research in Health Report shows that an additional 126 paramedics are needed across the state.
Since the Liberals came to office 10 years ago, ambulance response times have increased by almost 10 minutes and Tasmanians and our paramedics spent 31,000 hours ramped from July 2022 to May 2023.
A Labor Government will invest $6.5 million to support our state’s paramedics and improve ambulance response times, creating additional permanent paramedic positions across regional Tasmania.
Looking after workers is in Labor’s DNA and we stand side by side with our hardworking paramedics.
Anita Dow MP
Shadow Minister for Health, Mental Health and Wellbeing
