Paramedics warn of burnout and trauma as ambulance wait times exceed 'worst case scenario'

Tasmanian paramedics experience "bullying", "toxicity" and "significant fatigue", according to a survey, as wait times for an ambulance to arrive exceed worst-case scenario projections.

New data has revealed Tasmania's ambulance response times are continuing to trend upward, echoing a nationwide pattern.

The average time between a patient dialling Triple Zero and an ambulance arriving at their door now sits at 15 minutes and 30 seconds.

That is 42 seconds longer than what an independent report in 2023 forecast as being the worst-case scenario if resourcing didn't increase.

Majority of workers dissatisfied, survey shows

Jan Pur has been a paramedic with Ambulance Tasmania for 16 years and said staff shortages are causing rising ambulance wait times.

"We're going from job to job and we know there is a job waiting for us while we're looking after the patient on the ramp," Mr Pur said.

"There's people in the community, they are unwell, they need our services and we just can't get there."

Mr Pur said people were waiting hours for an ambulance and "that then reflects on us".

"It increases our stress, our pressure."

Nearly half experience bullying, survey says

Amid increasing wait times and pay negotiations, the culture at Ambulance Tasmania has been an ongoing issue.

In 2022, the death of an Ambulance Tasmania worker revealed a plethora of issues in the organisation, including supervisors who were overtasked and consequently unable to support the mental health of their colleagues.

In Parliament last week, 2024/25 survey results from Ambulance Tasmania — obtained by independent MP David O'Byrne — revealed 17 per cent had a strong desire to leave.

While the majority of staff said they had never experienced workplace bullying, 75 staff said they experienced it "once in a while".

Of those who had experienced workplace bullying at some stage, the majority (115) said they had been bullied by a colleague at Ambulance Tasmania.

Since the previous in 2024, employee confidence in the Ambulance Tasmania executive has dropped 20 per cent, and respondents reported a 19 per cent decrease in feeling motivated by the "vision" of Ambulance Tasmania.

Eleven per cent of survey respondents said they believed Ambulance Tasmania "does something" about a staff member "not delivering in their role".

A summary in the report states Ambulance Tasmania employees are "dissatisfied with the organisation's culture, management, and work-life balance".

"They report feeling unsupported, overworked, and undervalued. Additionally, they express concerns about the organisation's lack of transparency, communication, and accountability."

There were positive results in the survey.

Eighty-one per cent of respondents said they knew where to access wellbeing resources at work, 76 per cent said they knew where to raise concerns about their own, or colleagues' wellbeing, and almost 70 per cent said they felt comfortable reporting safety concerns.

Paramedic numbers increase, wait times worsen

Mr Pur said he wasn't surprised by the numbers.

"This is no longer a sustainable career. This is now something that you do for a short term and then say, I can't do this anymore,"

he said.

Health and Community Services Union Assistant state secretary Tammy Munro believed Ambulance Tasmania staff were being "psychologically injured".

"We've got workers that are understaffed, they've got burnout, they are bullied and pressured to do double shifts or even triple shifts and we're actually injuring our first responders," Ms Munro said.

Health Minister Bridget Archer said Ambulance Tasmania was committed to improving workplace culture.

"The Ambulance Tasmania cultural improvement action plan is … being implemented, with 59 items complete and 14 in progress," she said.

"Overwhelmingly, respondents reported knowing where to access wellbeing support for themselves and for others, and confidence in reporting safety concerns or hazards."

Department of Health secretary Dale Webster told parliament last week that some things the department have implemented have not cut through with employees.

"It's important that we actually acknowledge that what we've done hasn't been working and let's try and look at new ways to work, but also look at the structural issues that are in-built into it,"

he said.

Ambulance Tasmania has 697 paid paramedics and communication centre staff, and 330 volunteers.

Ms Archer told parliament estimates this week that paramedic numbers had increased in 2026.

"Since we came to government, we've almost doubled the number of Tasmanian ambulance operatives across Tasmania, and we're continuing to invest in additional paramedics," she said.

Response times get worse

The report recommended that an additional 126 paramedics be hired, but the Greens said the government "haven't come anywhere near employing" the number needed.

Tasmania Ambulance have 57 branches across the state, staffed by both paramedics and volunteers — but less than half are staffed 24 hours a day.

In the Department of Health's 2024/25 annual report, Ambulance Tasmania responded to nearly 70,000 call-outs with an average state-wide emergency response time of 14.9 minutes.

Both figures were up significantly from 2021/22, when there were nearly 60,000 emergency responses for the period, with an average wait time of 14.3 minutes.

The Greens health spokesperson, Cecily Rosol, labelled the outcome as "negligent".

"There were really specific recommendations in that report around the numbers of paramedics the government would need to employ," Ms Rosol said.

"They haven't come anywhere near employing that number of paramedics."

Shadow minister Ella Haddad said health cuts announced in the recent state budget were devastating.

"We've got ministers who all week refuse to acknowledge that there were cuts … when we can see in black and white that there's $700 million coming out of the health budget," Ms Haddad said.

Deal done after months of negotiations

After nine months of negotiations, Ambulance Tasmania accepted a new three-year wage agreement with the state government on Friday.

Under it, pay will increase by 3 per cent in the first year, 3 per cent in the second, and 2.75 per cent in the third.

Ms Munro said the agreement was undermined by budget cuts to health.

"It's disappointing that they had to fight hard to get what they got and then we get told that you have to find $700 million of efficiencies," Ms Munro said.

She warned that staff shortages and ambulance wait times would likely worsen before improving.

"There'll be catastrophes and the people that cop that are the paramedics that go out to sites, the call takers,"

she said.

Premier Jeremy Rockcliff said in a statement that the agreement "recognises the extraordinary commitment of our paramedics and emergency communications staff… and strengthens conditions for the workforce".