Non-Urgent Trips Draining Regional Ambulance Paramedics

Paramedics have had to transport thousands of non-critical patients in rural New South Wales (NSW), potentially diverting frontline workers from emergencies and causing burnout. 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 June 28. 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....