Union Calls to End Limits on Paramedics in Regional NSW

Ambulance attendants wearing full protective clothing prepare a gurney to transport residents to hospital at the Wyoming Nursing Home on August 2, 2021 in Sydney, Australia. The Wyoming Nursing Home in Sydney's inner west, run by Hardi Aged Care, has reported 18 Covid-19 cases in residents and a further two in staff, sending the remainder of the home's top floor residents to hospital as a precaution. Covid-19 lockdown restrictions in hot spot local government areas have increased with masks required outdoors at all times and residents limited to movement within a 5 kilometre radius of their homes. Greater Sydney is in lockdown through August 28th to contain the highly contagious Covid-19 delta variant. Photo by Sean Foster/Getty Images

A shortage of specialist paramedics in regional New South Wales (NSW) and location limits that bar front-line responders from retaining their qualifications, if transferred regionally, are bringing the hospital system to breaking point, their union says.

The Australian Paramedics Association of NSW said the government’s rejection of a recommendation to expand specialist paramedics across the state would mean many communities were unable to receive critical care, increasing avoidable hospitalisations.