There are times when paramedics from Yamba Ambulance Station are called away from the Lower Clarence, that they are told they are the only ambulance available between Ballina and Coffs Harbour.

This was the frightening reality revealed at a community meeting held last Monday evening, at the Wooli Street Hall, which was convened by the Yamba Community Action Network (Yamba CAN Inc) to discuss Yamba Ambulance Staffing Enhancements to be implemented on March 15.

Such was the reaction to what was discussed that those at the meeting voted to establish a Yamba Community Ambulance Working Party to strive to achieve an ambulance staffing rostering system that is fit for purpose in meeting the unique needs of the greater Yamba area.

In attendance at the meeting to explain the “staffing enhancements” were Tilak Nabi of the Australian Paramedics Association APA NSW, executive member of the APA, Lucas Hawkins, and former APA executive member and current APA delegate, Tim McEwen, who said it will result in less ambulances on the road in the Lower Clarence than there were in 2017.

The staffing enhancement by NSW Ambulance will result in no longer having on-call paramedics at Ambulance stations at Yamba, Maclean, and Iluka, the APA claims.

Mr Nabi said there had been a very long campaign by the union to get more paramedics across NSW, and for Yamba.

“The reason for this is that the response times that NSW Ambulance has to the most critical jobs are not meeting their own KPI’s, and what is seen as being clinically acceptable,” he said.

Mr Nabi said the APA welcomed the introduction of 2000 more paramedics across NSW as they hoped it would result in more Paramedics in communities across the state.

“Unfortunately, the way the Ambulance Service is implementing the new paramedics is resulting in sometimes, a little benefit, sometimes no net benefit, and sometimes it is going backwards in service delivery, which means the number of paramedics that are available to attend to any jobs that come in,” he said.

Mr Nabi said NSW Ambulance considers paramedics as a mobile workforce, so they respond from different towns.

“So, if someone in Yamba needs help and there is no one around the paramedics come from wherever they are stationed; the downside to that is the time it takes, and that’s not someone who is just sitting there waiting, it’s someone in pain, and it could have a very negative outcome for their overall health, depending on how long they are waiting.”

APA Delegate Tim McEwen said Yamba was not the first station to see this staffing enhancement implemented.

“It has happened right across the state and locally it happened in Kingscliff, Murwillumbah, and Casino, where they have had an afternoon shift, and under the staffing enhancement that shift has been replaced,” he said.

“Yamba is one of the first communities that is aware that this is happening and is keen to listen to what that means for the community, which is fantastic, because we don’t like to see our service going backwards.”

Mr McEwen said he is passionate about his job and the community of Yamba that he lives in, and he didn’t want to see the community getting a lesser service that what they have the ability to get.

“The public does need to be aware, as of the 15th of March, potentially you are getting a lesser service compared to what you got in 2017, where we had an afternoon shift that was shared between Yamba and Maclean on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays,” he said.

“The staff put forward a roster that had an afternoon shift every day of the week, and a much reduced on-call period, and that was outright rejected, with no rationale, no reasoning, nothing.

“The reason I am concerned is because it means my workload is going to get greater, and I know I may start and finish my shift here in Yamba, but there’s a good chance I won’t be here for a significant proportion of that shift.

“While I’m on-call here (in Yamba), I know they’re going to keep me here for local emergencies, and only send me away to Maclean, Iluka, or Grafton if it’s dire.

“Once we become a rostered resource, we go wherever the workload is, and most of that workload is in either Maclean or Grafton, and we end up in Grafton a couple of times a day.”

Mr McEwen said to transport a patient, every ambulance must have two qualified Paramedics, and there are 14 ambulances in the Clarence Valley, three at each of the stations at Maclean, Yamba, and Iluka, and five at the Grafton station.

APA executive member, Lucas Hawkins said the NSW government is removing on-call paramedics from the rostering system to cut costs, but NSW Ambulance claims the rostering is changing as having on-call paramedics creates a ‘fatigue related’ problem that is a health and safety issue.

“You are going to have extended times where you are going to have no ambulances in the local area, so the response times to get to Yamba if there are no ambulances are going to increase dramatically,” he said.

“If you have three ambulances on a shift, 1 each at Maclean, Iluka, and Yamba, and they are called away, it’s going to take up to 45 minutes for an ambulance to respond from Grafton.”

NSW Ambulance said staffing enhancements are part of the $1.76 billion Strategic Workforce and Infrastructure Team SWIFT program.

The SWIFT program is delivering 2,500 additional NSW Ambulance staff including 500 paramedics to rural and regional areas, to boost emergency and mobile healthcare for our metropolitan and regional communities, the NSW Ambulance Service said in a statement.

This major workforce boost delivers better health outcomes for patients and their families, while also providing more support to our existing NSW Ambulance staff in the bush.

The Yamba Community Ambulance Working Party is encouraging all Lower Clarence residents to contact Member for Clarence, Richie Williamson, and NSW Health Minister, Ryan Park to voice their concerns about the staffing enhancements before they are implemented on March 15.

Members of the Lower Clarence community are invited to provide assistance and suggestions to the Working Party at yambacommunityworkingparty@outlook.com.

This article appeared in the Clarence Valley Independent, 26 February 2025.