QUICK FACTS
- Since elected in 2014, Liberal Governments have employed 220 more full-time paramedics and dispatch officers - a 71.4 per cent increase.And we've tripled the budget for Ambulance Tasmania.
- Ambulance demand has grown by 38.4 per cent in the past five years.
- We will employ 78 more paramedics.
- 51 paramedics will be recruited in areas of demand - Greater Hobart, Launceston/West Tamar, Cygnet, Snug, Smithton - over two years.
- 27 community paramedics recruited over four years to treat Tasmanians at home in local communities and treat walk-ins at district hospitals at Smithton, King Island, Queenstown, Scottsdale, George Town, Deloraine, St Helens, St Marys, Campbell Town, Beaconsfield, Oatlands, New Norfolk and the Tasman Peninsula.
- Giving community paramedics access to MyEmergency Doctor for immediate specialist ED support.
- A pilot to allow community and intensive care paramedics to prescribe a range of medications in line with nurse practitioners.
- Build four new ambulance stations, at Legana, Cygnet, Snug and King Island.
- Implement a ban on ramping, reducing maximum mandated offload to 30 minutes in line with best practice.
- Real-time monitoring of patient transfers, referrals and patient flow in Statewide Integrated Command Centre.
- Extra 180 defibrillators, adding to 360 already provided by Liberal Governments.
- Keeping people well in their own communities with new Emergency Mental Health Co-Response service for Launceston.
Under our 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania’s Future, a re-elected majority Liberal Government will:
- Recruit 78 full-time paramedics in the biggest recruitment blitz in Tasmania’s history, including:
- An extra 51 full-time paramedics in areas of key demand over two years.
- An extra 27 community paramedics in rural and regional areas over four years.
- Building four new Ambulance Stations at Legana, Snug, Cygnet and King Island.
- Ban ramping - get ambulances off the ramp and paramedics back on the road.
- Guarantee there will be no ambulance tax under our government, ever.
- Set up a new State-wide Integrated Command Centre.
- Deliver an extra 180 life-saving defibrillators in our communities.
- Pilot an Emergency Mental Health Co-Response Service in the North.
- Increase annual funding for the health and wellbeing of our frontline emergency services personnel and volunteers, including paramedics.
- Protect our frontline workers from serious assault.
An important part of our 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania's Future is all about taking more action, right now, on issues affecting Tasmanians, particularly health.
More Paramedics out saving lives
A re-elected majority Liberal Government will recruit an additional 78 full-time paramedics in line with immediate demand pressures, as well as supporting Tasmanians in rural and regional areas.
Under this recruitment blitz, over two years, we will -
- Add an extra two crews (24 paramedics) for the Greater Hobart area, with one of the crews to be based at Glenorchy and the other in Hobart.
- Recruit an additional crew (12 paramedics) in Launceston to cater for demand in the West Tamar region.
- Make both Cygnet and Snug double branch stations (an additional 12 paramedics, six at each).
- Make Smithton a double branch Station (an additional three paramedics)
- Recruit 27 full-time community paramedics for rural and regional communities over a four-year period.
Recruitment will begin within the first 100 days of a Liberal Government.
To accommodate the extra paramedics, new ambulance stations will be built at Legana, Snug Cygnet and King Island.
Ambulance demand will be reassessed after two years, consulting with the workforce and unions, following the introduction of strict new protocols to get paramedics off the ramp and back on the road, the recruitment of community paramedics in rural and regional areas, our GP Guarantee, additional ED staffing at the Royal Hobart Hospital, and a suite of health initiatives purposely designed to take pressure off ambulance and hospitals.
27 more community paramedics for rural and regional areas
Tasmania was the first Australian State to pilot the community paramedic model of care, following its success in Canada, the UK and USA in rural and regional areas.
Community paramedics are fully trained specialist paramedics who are able to care for and treat Tasmanians in their own homes.
Nine community paramedics are currently employed in all regions of the State. Since 2021, they've treated 2025 patients with 56.9 per cent treated in their community, instead of being transported to an Emergency Department, reducing pressure on ambulance and hospitals while getting Tasmanians the care they need.
A re-elected majority Liberal Government will recruit 27 additional community paramedics in rural and regional communities over the next four years.
They will have a dual role of responding to and treating non-emergency Triple Zero calls in their local community or the home, or treating minor illnesses and injury of people who present to our rural hospitals in a new innovative partnership between our district hospital services and Ambulance Tasmania.
Community paramedics will be also provided access to MyEmergency Doctor for immediate specialist hospital advice.
In addition, we will pilot a model that allows our community and intensive care paramedics to prescribe a range of medications in line with nurse practitioners.
The 27 community paramedics will be attached to 13 rural and district hospitals at Smithton, King Island, Queenstown, Scottsdale, George Town, St Helens, St Marys, Campbell Town, Beaconsfield, Deloraine, Oatlands, New Norfolk and the Tasman Peninsula.
Ambulance ramping to be banned
A re-elected majority Liberal Government will move decisively to make ambulance ramping a thing of the past.
A new Ambulance Offload Protocol mandates a maximum 60-minute window for all patients arriving by ambulance to be transferred to the care of Emergency Department staff.
That Protocol begins in the State's North-West this week, on 18 March in the North, and 25 March in the South.
We will then move to a 45-minute window in the second half of next year, with the aim of fully implementing the 30-minute transfer the following year, effectively banning ramping and meeting national best practice.
To help implement the policy, we're employing an additional 44 new doctors and 25 new nurses at the Royal's expanded Emergency Department, increasing its operational capacity by around 30 per cent, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
We have also committed $53 million to a newly-expanded Emergency Department at the Launceston General Hospital.
Additionally, we are introducing a nation-leading GP Guarantee to provide more health services in local communities.
The ban on ramping also builds on new practices recently put in place, including the urgent patient offload protocol (where paramedics can immediately transfer patients where there is a priority call-out), and the ‘Safe for Emergency Department waiting room pathway’ (where paramedics can transfer patients direct to the waiting room where it is safe to do so).
Guarantee there will be no ambulance tax under a Liberal Government, ever
The previous Labor Government spent thousands of dollars investigating an Ambulance Levy for Tasmania, and only ditched the policy after outrage from Tasmanians.
A re-elected majority Liberal Government will guarantee there will be no tax or levy on ambulance services in Tasmania, ever.
Establish a Statewide Integrated Command Centre
The new Command Centre will help ensure a seamless transition through the different areas of our health system. It will help manage and monitor, in real-time, transfers, referrals and patient flow to support our new Ambulance Offload Protocols.
A re-elected majority Liberal Government will establish the Statewide Command Centre by mid-2025.
More Community Defibrillators
When a person suffers a cardiac arrest, their chance of survival declines by almost 10 per cent with each passing minute. Having access to an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) can mean the difference between life and death.
Since our election in 2014, we have provided around 360 free lifesaving defibrillators to Tasmanian communities. We have also put in place a smart phone app to show the location of defibrillators across the State.
A re-elected majority Liberal Government will provide more lifesaving defibrillators through our successful Community Defibrillator Fund, to deliver another 180 defibrillators to help save lives, right around the State.
Pilot an Emergency Mental Health Co-Response Service in the North
In 2021, the Tasmanian Liberal Government put in place the $5.1 million PACER program – a co-response service involving mental health clinicians, paramedics and Tasmania Police. The PACER program assisted 1568 Tasmanians in 2022-23, with 75 per cent able to remain in the community rather than be transferred to hospital.
This new health service was made permanent in the south and renamed as the Mental Health Emergency Response Service, acknowledging that a police response was sometimes, but not always, required.
In 2023, a trial of the Service in the North-West was launched.
A re-elected majority Liberal Government will now pilot the Service in the North of the State, in a two-year trial commencing in 2025.
More health and wellbeing and support for frontline emergency service personnel, including paramedics
The Liberal Government will increase funding for health and wellbeing support for all frontline emergency service personnel and volunteers.
This program began in 2018 in recognition of the challenging work that our emergency services personnel undertake every day, and risk factors that can have significant impact on their mental and physical health.
A re-elected majority Liberal Government will increase funding to $4 million per annum for our Health and Wellbeing Program for emergency service personnel and volunteers, including paramedics.
Supporting Volunteer Ambulance Officers
Volunteer Ambulance Officers make an extraordinary contribution to their local communities, working side by side with our paramedics.
A re-elected majority Liberal Government will extend our Memorandum of Understanding with the Volunteer Ambulance Officers Association of Tasmania for the attraction, retention, training and support for ambulance volunteers, and provide ongoing support funding.
Protecting our frontline workers from serious assault
Assaults and serious offences against our frontline workers, including paramedics, are unacceptable.
In the first 100 days, a re-elected majority Liberal Government will legislate to keep our frontline workers safe from harm and serious assault.
Draft laws are currently out for consultation, and will apply to frontline health, safety and emergency services workers, including paramedics, correctional services officers, retail, hospitality and passenger transport workers.
Net Cost: $72.4 million including $22 million for capital expenditure