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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-03-02 Daily Xml
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SA Ambulance Service

The Hon. J.E. HANSON (15:04): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Health and Wellbeing regarding threats to the lives of ambulance officers.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.E. HANSON: On the recent weekend, paramedic Jim Murchland spoke about his previous shift and I quote what he said:

I just went from job to job to job.

Towards the very end of the night myself, my partner and then another ambulance crew were all too fatigued and short on equipment to attend a life-threatening case.

I'm actually at risk of just crashing into a tree if I go.

My questions to the minister are:

1. How do you respond to Jim and his colleagues who face injury and death in the course of their work due to fatigue?

2. What guarantee can you offer Jim and his colleagues that they will not be charged with breaching the code of ethics or be referred to ICAC for what he did in speaking out?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:05): Let me start with the last element first. I have made it clear to the chief executive of the Ambulance Service that I don't support gagging health professionals. So paramedics such as Jim Murchland—

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The Leader of the Opposition is not helping. The minister has the call.

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The Leader of the Opposition will be silent.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: I do not support gagging of heath professionals and I have made that clear to Mr Place.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The leader! I am trying to hear the minister. The leader will be silent.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: In relation to paramedics who are working in situations of stress, I thank them on behalf of not only the government but the people of South Australia. The paramedics and ambulance officers of our state provide exemplary service. I am very determined to make sure that the demands on the Ambulance Service and the broader health system are manageable, that they can deliver top-quality care in an environment which is manageable.

Inevitably, paramedic service and that of being an ambulance officer involves stress because they are delivering care in very stressful circumstances. But, certainly, the SA Ambulance Service, supported by the broader health services, is very keen to make sure that we move to a situation where, particularly when spikes come, the Ambulance Service and the health system are able to manage those spikes.

In relation to the challenge going forward, we need to eliminate ramping and we need to introduce reform. This government continues to invest resources. As we do eliminate ramping it will ease the pressure on the Ambulance Service—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. S.G. WADE: It would be disorderly for me to respond to an interjection—

The PRESIDENT: It would be.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: —but I simply make the observation that last calendar year—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Leader, order!

The Hon. S.G. WADE: —there was a 20 per cent reduction in ambulance ramping in South Australia.

The Hon. I.K. Hunter interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The Opposition Whip will be quiet.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: There was an increase in Western Australia.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. Mr Hanson, I believe, has a supplementary.

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