A MUST READ Only Labor Will End The Ambulance Crisis Daniel Andrews | November 24, 2014 An Andrews Labor Government will end Victoria’s ambulance crisis with a $100 million plan to reduce response times, resolve the pay dispute, upgrade facilities and treat paramedics with respect, so they can save lives. Under the Liberals, ambulance response times are worse than ever but instead of fixing the crisis, the Liberals have waged a war on our hardworking paramedics. Labor will establish a $60 million Response Time Rescue Fund to support initiatives that free up ambulances for our sickest patients including allowing paramedics to organise alternative transport and care for less urgent patients. Labor will work with paramedics, not against them, to find the solutions. The Ambulance Performance and Policy Consultative Committee will give our professionals a real say, because they know what’s wrong with the system. The committee will hand down an interim report within the first 100 days of an Andrews Labor Government. The Triple 0 call centre is also part of the problem. Labor will review call taking and dispatch procedures at the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority so ambulances can arrive sooner. Labor will invest $20 million to upgrade ambulance stations and $20 million to upgrade vehicles and equipment, with five new Complex Patient Ambulance Vehicles added to the fleet so the system remains world-class. Labor will tell the truth about the ambulance crisis, releasing local response times by branch, locality and local government area instead of burying the information behind FOI refusals and weak excuses. The war on paramedics will end with a change of culture at Ambulance Victoria, a finalised EBA and a pay rate dispute immediately sent to the independent umpire to fairly judge the value of their work. Labor will immediately remove the current Ambulance Victoria board and replace it with new members, giving the organisation a fresh start and changing its culture. Labor will also remove the red tape that prevents paramedics from doing their job properly and will support paramedics and grieving loved ones who have suffered trauma by expanding counselling programs. Quotes attributable to Mr Andrews “We can always rely on our hardworking paramedics but we can’t rely on the system they work in and the conditions they work under.” “Cutting the health budget costs lives. Ambulance response times are worse than ever and people are dying.” “Labor will end the ambulance crisis because nothing matters more than the health of our loved ones.” “Paramedics are some of our most trusted and respected professionals. Labor will treat them that way.”
Posted on: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 03:29:23 +0000
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