The Greens welcome the Minister for Health’s statement in parliament today that he will sit down with unions to look at providing fair compensation for paramedics who work shifts alone.
Short staffing in Ambulance Tasmania is clearly causing greater risk and harm to patients, but it’s also creating an unbearable burden for staff. Paramedics are now being forced to frequently work shifts alone.
These solo shifts add to workload, fatigue, and stress. They’re also potentially unsafe for staff – especially during night shift.
Paramedics should never have to work under the appalling conditions associated with single-response shifts. But if they are forced to do so, the least the government should do is to recognise the impact on them with compensation.
This is a critical issue, which is why we asked Health Minister Guy Barnett about it in parliament. We were encouraged to hear the Minister is open to talking to the union about bringing in single-response compensation.
What we saw from Minister Barnett is a good start, but it’s important he back up his words with action. We hope the Minister will connect with HACSU about this matter as a priority, and make a concrete commitment to paramedics as soon as he can.
