Extra beds and ambulance officers needed in NSW

The Health Services Union today welcomed the addition of 800 extra beds for the NSW public hospital system but warned more were needed.

HSU NSW secretary Michael Williamson

HSU NSW branch secretary Michael Williamson said an extra 300 ambulance officers were also required.

Welcoming the government's announcement of the extra beds yesterday, Mr Williamson said: "This builds upon the Minister's initiative commenced about 12 months ago to increase bed numbers and improve the flow through of patients in public hospitals, from emergency departments to discharge."

However the HSU believes that the 800 new beds are not enough and has called on the government to fast-track another 200 additional beds and to immediately start recruitment of 300 new Ambulance Officers to cope with the winter demand which is fast approaching.

"We all know that over the last few years there has not been enough ambulance officers to cope with increasing demands, let alone the loss of significant officer hours waiting with patients at emergency departments.

"It has been clear for years that further ambulance officers are needed to cope but the Ambulance Service has just fiddled at the edges with ideas such as reducing the number of patients who will receive an emergency response."

"This is not good enough and yet again our members are confronted with another winter that will have caught the Ambulance Service with its eye off the ball."

"At the moment emergency departments are being 'propped up' by ambulance officers due to shortages of other health professionals.

"At the same time hospitals arrange hospital transfers that draw away nursing resources that could be undertaken by ambulance officers if there was enough.

"Ambulance delegates from the Sydney metro area are meeting later this week to determine what response they and this union should make on these chronic shortages, which everyone can see coming except the Ambulance Service.

"The Government and the Minister are being let down by those who manage such services and should be called to account as to why Government initiatives such as extra beds are lost in the inertia of the Ambulance Service and the broader public health system.

"To get true value for money from the additional beds, the public hospital system must ensure it has more health professionals in the NSW health system to maximise the benefits of the new beds.

"It can't be forgotten that the ability of patients to be successfully assisted in the public hospital system is determined by a number of factors, such as, for example, the availability of radiographers to take those X-Rays, the pharmacists to make up prescriptions, the dieticians to work out proper eating habits on discharge, the physiotherapists to help rehabilitate patients to discharge and beyond, and the many more professionals that are all vital to make sure that these beds are part of a sustainable program for the present and future.

"Too often in this debate the focus is primarily on nurses and doctors and overlooks the acute shortages that exist for all health professionals in the system" added Mr Williamson.

"In addition, these health professionals are often critical in reducing the demand on precious hospital beds by preventative measures through proper care and treatment prior to the medical condition becoming acute and requiring hospitalisation".

"Ambulance officers, and most health professionals, have one of the highest levels of respect by the community because they undertake their role selflessly and provide acute and immediate assistance at a moment of great crisis.

"It is devastating to such admired health professionals that they are not able to provide the level of care when required.

"The prevarication by the Ambulance Service needs to stop and at least three hundred additional Officers need to be desperately recruited and trained to get through the current demand levels."

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Last Modified: Wednesday, 16-Nov-2005 17:18:54 EST