As state Health Minister David Davis arrived at Williamstown Hospital last week to celebrate its 120th anniversary, he was met by a western suburbs paramedic who is among hundreds who have campaigned for better working conditions for more than a year.
Newport resident Jedda McGlinchey said Saturday marked 12 months since paramedics officially started campaigning and taking protected industrial action.
“We’re still no closer to a resolution,” she said. “Being a Hobsons Bay local … I think it is really important that Mr Davis knows that problems with ambulances can’t be hidden.”
She said resourcing was a huge issue: not enough ambulances, hospitals, hospital beds, aged-care facilities or primary-health clinics.
“We bear the brunt of patients and family members who have waited longer than is appropriate for an ambulance because, understandably, they are upset,” Ms McGlinchey said. “It’s not uncommon for paramedics to go 10 hours without a meal break and I can’t emphasise enough it’s not just a meal break – it’s a rest break.
“To be driving around under code one conditions on an empty stomach making drug calculations and performing life-saving procedures is inappropriate.
“Because of the workload, paramedics have a statistically significant increased likelihood of depression, anxiety, suicide, post-traumatic stress disorder and the inability to switch off.”
Ms McGlinchey did not get to speak to Mr Davis, but he later told the Weekly that he would meet with her.
Following concerns about ambulance response times, particularly after the death of an elderly woman at Williamstown who waited more than two hours for an ambulance, paramedics have called for changes to the way emergencies are classified. At the moment a drunk person who is passed out could be seen before someone who is dying.
Mr Davis said: “It’s a little bit rich of paramedics, including the ones in the call centre, who delayed the implementation of new software for more than 12 months that enabled greater triage options, and could have put lives at risk. We’re in the middle of an EBA, and the ambulance officers are pushing for more money for themselves.”
Williamstown MP Wade Noonan said he suspected Ms McGlinchey would be waiting a very long time before Mr Davis agreed to meet her.
“Rather than simply cutting ribbons on projects funded by the previous Labor government, Mr Davis should make time to meet our local paramedics,” he said. “They just want a fair hearing.”
