The New England is set to benefit from a significant increase in frontline emergency care, with 28 additional paramedics beginning work in the region next month.
The new paramedics will be stationed at Tamworth South and Moree Ambulance Stations, further strengthening NSW Ambulance’s highly mobile workforce. Of the new recruits, 12 paramedics will be based in Tamworth South, while Moree will welcome 16 additional paramedics.
This initiative forms part of the Strategic Workforce and Infrastructure Team (SWIFT) Program, which aims to deliver 2,500 additional NSW Ambulance staff across the state. This includes 500 paramedics dedicated to regional and rural areas and the construction of 30 new ambulance stations.
The New England Zone paramedics are among 125 new recruits set to start work across regional NSW over the coming months. This marks the second wave of the regional 500 program, following the deployment of 125 paramedics to regional areas last year.
The Health Services Union has welcomed the rollout of the second phase of extra paramedics for regional New South Wales.
An additional 125 paramedics will start working across the state over the coming months, as part of the Minns Labor Government’s promise to deliver 500 extra paramedics to the bush.
“We welcome the second stage of this rollout of more paramedics. Communities in the bush deserve the same level of care as the major centres and cities. This will help ensure they get that care,” Health Services Union Secretary Gerard Hayes said.
“This is also about ensuring paramedics are supported in their jobs. Our paramedics are hard-working all-rounders that rural communities rely heavily on. More staff means better response times, and will help avoid burn-out,” Mr Hayes said.
The first tranche of paramedics started working last year, in locations including Dubbo, Orange, Wagga Wagga and Albury.
Consultations are also underway to get more paramedics to Tamworth, Moree, Young, Blayney, Deniliquin and Temora.
The 500 paramedics are being rolled out over a four-year period, and are set to improve response times and patient outcomes in regional and rural communities.
“An extra 500 paramedics is a great start, but we would like to see Specialised Paramedics rolled out as part of this commitment. Sometimes, an ambulance service is all the community has if it’s remote, so we need highly skilled people in those areas,” Gerard Hayes said.
Specialised paramedics receive additional training to perform more complex medical treatment and care.
Minister for Regional Health, Ryan Park, highlighted the government’s commitment to improving emergency services in regional areas.
“We promised the people of regional, rural and remote NSW we’d deliver them 500 new paramedics, and I am really proud that the second cohort is about to hit the road and take up new roles in the bush,” Minister Park said.
“These highly skilled paramedics will help drive better health outcomes for patients and their families, ensuring regional communities receive the same high-quality care as metropolitan areas.
“We are committed to investing in our frontline healthcare workforce to support our paramedics and provide better emergency services to the people of NSW.”
Dr Dominic Morgan, NSW Ambulance Chief Executive, expressed optimism about the positive changes this workforce boost would bring.
“This boost to our workforce in Tamworth and Moree will help our clinicians deliver better health outcomes for patients, while also providing more support to our existing NSW Ambulance staff in regional NSW,” Dr Morgan said.
“As demand for our services continues to grow, we remain committed to providing excellence in care to our patients now and into the future.”
The NSW Government’s investment in regional healthcare aims to address growing demand and provide rural communities with equitable access to emergency medical services. With increasing pressures on paramedics, the addition of these new recruits will help alleviate workload stress and should improve response times across the New England Zone.
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