Tamworth's new multi-million-dollar ambulance station is finally open. Now the biggest challenge is recruiting enough people for it to run.
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At the station's official opening ceremony - held eight months after the site started operating - the head of the state's health system said the government's work to fix the regional health system has only just begun.
"We know that coming out of COVID there's real challenges with workforce retention and recruitment. I know that, it's what keeps me up at night," NSW Regional Health Minister Ryan Park said.
The minister said the latest report card for Tamworth shows average ambulance response times have fallen from nine minutes to eight in recent months, despite a 30 per cent increase in call outs.
But with wait times at the region's hospitals trending upwards, Mr Park said it's important to get more nurses, doctors, and midwives out into the regions to be able to match the effort our ambos are putting in.
"It's the biggest challenge I have, but it's also the most rewarding part of the job. We've got a long way to go, but I think we're starting to head in the right direction with a lot more work to do," he said.
NSW Ambulance Commissioner Dominic Morgan said ambos have an easier time managing workforce compared to hospitals and other health services due to the fact NSW Ambulance operates as a single statewide system.
"Both governments, whatever the colour, have been listening to calls from paramedics that the need for investment has never been greater," Mr Morgan said.
Last year the state government pledged $438.6 million for recruiting 500 paramedics in rural and regional areas over four years.
So far 120 have been recruited, and Mr Morgan says the short-term goal is to deploy 125 to regional areas by the end of June.
"With that staffing investment and some reduction in the COVID peak, we've actually been able to get to patients faster," he said.
"That's how I tend to think about these things, not about statistics or numbers, but how quickly we can get hands on hearts and resuscitate patients. That's what keeps them alive and keeps us motivated."
Both Mr Morgan and Minister Park attended the opening ceremony of the new station on Piper Street alongside Member for Tamworth Kevin Anderson.
The new station includes internal parking for up to 12 emergency ambulance vehicles, as well as staff rest facilities, administration and storage areas, an internal wash bay, a Medic Fit gym, and external parking for additional ambulance vehicles.
The station is expected to employ 41 full-time staff by the year 2031.
Mayor of Tamworth Russell Webb was conspicuously absent from the station's opening ceremony.
The Leader contacted Cr Webb, who said he was "very surprised and disappointed" to learn he wasn't kept in the know on the opening of "such an important facility for our community".
When asked about why the mayor wasn't invited, the Minister for Regional Health said he "isn't in charge of invitations" because he's "got a health system to run," but that he's open to meeting with Cr Webb at a later date.
While in Tamworth, Mr Park also said there will be more investments in the region's health in the upcoming budget, but that he "can't make any promises now".
Instead, he talked about what the state government has achieved so far, including a "landmark" pay rise for paramedics achieved after eleventh-hour negotiations at the end of last year.
"We're not going to build out way out of this with buildings with no staff. What we have to focus on - and what I've made clear to Health to focus on - is the delivery of staff," Mr Park said.
"We've got make sure the profession is one that is attractive for people to enter."
Mr Park said he's "particularly interested" to see what effect the government's new $12,000 subsidy for health students in rural and regional areas will have on recruitment over the next 12 to 18 months.
Lastly, he said he's also working with Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall as they conduct an investigation into how three doctors at Inverell Hospital were allowed to regularly administer anaesthetic to patients without appropriate supervision.