Paramedics have had to transport thousands of non-critical patients in rural NSW, potentially diverting frontline workers from emergencies and causing burnout. or signup to continue reading NSW Ambulance made 13,627 patient transport trips in 2022/23 with the vast majority in country areas, according to the auditor-general's report into regional services released on Friday. The reliance on ambulances to take patients to or from health facilities for non-urgent care has long been a frustration for paramedics, who say it takes them away from emergencies and leads to high-risk fatigue.
NSW Health drafted a new plan to improve patient transport in 2023, replacing another strategy that expired in 2011, the audit found. "This means that for over a decade NSW Health has not had a cohesive statewide policy to address well-known transport needs affecting health outcomes and service delivery in regional and rural NSW," the report said. A response from NSW Health accepted the auditor-general's recommendation to review non-emergency transport operations.
A paramedics' union told a separate ongoing inquiry the use of ambulances for transport had not improved since a rural health report condemned the practice in 2022. "This places paramedics at risk, as non-urgent patient transports can dangerously extend shift times," the Australian Paramedics Association NSW submission said. "Paramedics in rural and regional NSW experience this to a higher extent because (fewer) hospitals are available a.
