Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian and Health Minister Jillian Skinner were joined recently at the Sydney Ambulance Centre by NSW Ambulance Chief Executive Dominic Morgan to announce the funding boost.
The Budget funding package will include $12.8 million to employ 85 extra paramedics to work in metropolitan and regional centres, as determined by NSW Ambulance. The Budget will also include $5.1 million to finish recruiting 35 specialist paramedics, two years earlier than promised at the 2015 State election.
Berejiklian said: "The NSW Government is committed to supporting our skilled and hardworking paramedics to continue delivering high-quality care and we are investing in modern infrastructure - from aeromedical bases to more Ambulance superstations."
Skinner said: "This investment will allow NSW Ambulance to meet the demand placed upon its services, now and into the future, and allow our paramedics to respond faster from strategically-based locations."
Ambulance infrastructure and equipment to be delivered in this year's Budget includes:
- $73 million to build new Ambulance superstations as part of the NSW Government's $150 million Sydney Ambulance Metropolitan Infrastructure Strategy (SAMIS). Nine superstations are currently planned or under construction at Artarmon, Bankstown, Blacktown, Caringbah, Kogarah, Liverpool, Northmead, Penrith and in Sydney's inner west.
- $17 million to enhance the NSW Ambulance Helicopter Retrieval Network, which commences in January 2017 and will provide doctors on every flight from bases operating 24/7 out of Newcastle, Tamworth, Orange, Wollongong, Canberra, Lismore and Bankstown, as well as a fleet of 12 new helicopters.
- $16.5 million for rural ambulance station upgrades, including Kempsey, Berry, Harden, Molong, Wagga Wagga and planning for Coolamon, Griffith and Ardlethan.
- $11.5 million to enhance the ambulance radio network, $9.5 million to ambulance road fleet replacements and $2.3 million to upgrade medical equipment.
- $4.6 million to upgrade NSW Ambulance business critical systems ICT infrastructure.
