Paramedics will take industrial action from tomorrow, saying negotiations on an enterprise agreement are stalled after nearly a year of talks. The union says poor work life balance has prompted an exodus of workers, with many leaving the job after five years.
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00:00 A personalised tour of Australia's first virtual emergency department.
00:10 At Epping's Northern Hospital, it's treated quarter of a million patients since it started
00:14 three years ago.
00:16 Now its capacity will be doubled.
00:18 We're looking forward to it being able to treat up to a thousand patients a day by 2526.
00:25 Something like 86% of patients have not had to then go through the hospital system.
00:30 That's taken a huge amount of pressure off our busy emergency departments.
00:35 But while the virtual service is being expanded, emergency workers on the ground are feeling
00:41 the strain.
00:43 Paramedics are planning industrial action from tomorrow, but the union insists they
00:47 will not compromise patient care.
00:49 For most of our members it's really about finishing their shift on time and every single
00:52 day paramedics work over 800 hours of forced involuntary overtime and that just means you
00:58 can't commit to things like picking up your child from childcare.
01:01 Triple zero call takers and dispatchers have been involved in industrial action since December
01:06 last year, while police and firefighters have also recently taken action.
01:11 The state government is trying its best to stay out of the latest dispute.
01:16 Paramedics do a great job, they serve our community well and these matters will continue
01:20 to be discussed and it's my expectation resolved as quickly as they can at the negotiating
01:26 table.
01:27 It's not a good legacy for any government to have such high levels of industrial dispute
01:31 with its emergency services.
01:33 Ambulance Victoria says it respects paramedics' right to take action as they work towards
01:39 an agreement.
01:39 [BLANK_AUDIO]