Nobody wants to be in a situation where they have to dial 000 for a loved one in medical need. But we all rely on that safeguard to get help to arrive quickly.
Paramedics are overworked and ambulance services are overstretched.
But the goal of St John’s ambulance in the NT is not solely to deliver frontline services to people in need – as a private organisation their bottom line determines their priorities.
A survey by the United Workers’ Union showed that 81% of St John's staff in the Territory feel that the organisation puts profit motives before the fatigue of workers.
The same survey showed:
- 78% have not been provided training or professional development, instead paying for their own training in the last two years.
- 44% have been bullied, harassed, or targeted by management because they engaged in protected industrial action during the 2021 enterprise agreement negotiations.
- 64% feel there is an unsafe workplace culture
- 78% feel staff welfare is ignored in regional centres due to the on-call rosters and the lack of fatigue management.
- 73% feel St John NT cares about their public image to the detriment of the ambulance service and staff.
- 86% feel the NT government and opposition ignores the issues facing the NT Ambulance service and its employees.
- 78% support bringing the NT ambulance service back into public hands
No emergency service should be privatised.
Let’s bring ambulances back into public hands, so that they have one job to worry about, responding to emergencies -and not their bottom line.