THE Health Services Union says the Hunter will be a "significant focus" when it comes time to determine where more than 2000 new paramedics will be dispatched, a win for the region's underresourced and overworked ambos.
The HSU announced on Sunday that, after five years of campaigning and industrial action to highlight the plight of the "worked to the bone" paramedic workforce, the state government had committed to a record $1.76 billion rescue package as part of the upcoming budget.
It is expected 1850 of the new positions will be paramedics with a further 300 ambulance support positions.
And as well as the extra jobs, the package includes 30 new ambulance stations, including stations at Gateshead and Swansea.
HSU NSW Secretary Gerard Hayes said the breakdown of where new paramedics would be sent would be determined after the budget was handed down on June 21, but said Newcastle and other regional areas would be a "significant focus" for additional staffing.
"There will not only be the enhancement of numbers in the region but also the enhancement of skill sets," Mr Hayes said.
Mr Hayes said paramedics would now focus on campainging for a wage increase that "reflects the contribution and professionalism of paramedics".
"This is a historic win and every HSU paramedic who stood up when it counted deserves recognition," he said. "Our paramedics have been consistently under-resourced and it has impacted the community. "Extra positions are of course only half the battle. We still need to professionalise the pay of NSW paramedics who are the lowest paid in the country."
Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter Taylor Martin said the record investment will ensure the community has access to a quality ambulance service for years to come.
"With ambulance services across the country experiencing unprecedented demand, the government is ensuring our communities and our paramedics are well placed for the challenges ahead," Mr Martin said. "Gateshead and Swansea are two of eight new ambulance stations announced today, with 22 more stations to come in the next few years. This record funding will also deliver extra paramedics, ambulance support staff, nurses and doctors, increasing capacity from call centres to call outs. NSW Ambulance will have the largest paramedic workforce in the country. This is great news for our community. We rely on our local paramedics and now they'll have additional support to continue the invaluable work they do for us."
