THE Health Services Union is threatening "five weeks of fury" before the March 25 state election as it pushes for ambulance paramedics to take on a broader range of treatments, together with a pay rise of about 30 per cent.
The union's state secretary, Gerard Hayes, said yesterday that Hunter union members were taking part in the campaign, which included using ambulances as "mobile billboards" to get the message out to the public.
The state of the ambulance service is recognised as one of the near-perennial political issues in NSW, with paramedics saying they could be more than simply "babysitters" in hospital emergency wards if they were allowed to do basic medical procedures they say they are already proficient in.
Mr Hayes said yesterday that NSW paramedics had the lowest pay in Australia despite having "significantly increased their skills and productivity over the past decade".
Mr Hayes said the union was seeking a pay rise through the NSW Industrial Relations Commission.
Unlike other workers on state awards who were transferred some years ago to the federal system and the Fair Work Commission, state public servants, including ambulance employees, remain within the NSW industrial system.
"Every newly trained paramedic is degree trained but is prevented from using all their skills and having them recognised," Mr Hayes said yesterday.
"When someone is having a cardiac arrest paramedics already administer medicine and treatment that can reduce the subsequent stay in hospital by a week.
"This is a massive cost saving to NSW taxpayers, but it simply hasn't been reflected in the pay that paramedics received.
"The truth is paramedics are trained to also do far more than they are currently allowed to perform.
"If we scrapped archaic work practices and let them use their full range of knowledge and skills, NSW would reap extraordinary benefits. But we need a pay scale that reflect this."
Mr Hayes said paramedics should be able to administer a greater range of medicines, treat aged-care patients at home rather than bringing them to hospital, provide preventative services such as diabetes screening and undertake preliminary mental health assessments in non-urgent situations.
A spokesperson for Health Minister Brad Hazzard said said the Perrottet government was working "in good faith" to modernise ambulance awards and conditions.
The union denied the campaign was to advantage Labor but the government spokesperson said the union was "playing politics at the expense of patients".
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