Job Advertisement 456979 Country Ambulance Paramedic – Bunbury
St John have recently posted an job advertisement for a Country Ambulance Paramedic – Bunbury, which, according to the job description, seeks an Ambulance Paramedic to work with two Mental Health Transport Officers, for a posting of 12 months. It seems SJA have a tendency to forget we have a certified agreement (EBA) which outlines standard crew formation in specific country locations, such as Bunbury.
We have objected to the proposed crew mix as, once again, it has once been rolled out without ANY consultation, without any apparent risk assessment, AND the fact that the proposed location for this crew is at a country depot specifically with written guidance covering crew formation. The issue it highlights is the flagrant disregard for our certified agreement, and the lack of consultation (though this should not surprise us by now). St John have rejected our suggestion to consider relocating this role to East Bunbury (which would be less of a direct insult to the agreement) and begin consultation immediately.
Members should be aware that we intend to challenge this position in an effort to uphold the validity and force of our certified agreement. This issue highlights yet again the importance of our current EBA claim for a defined list of acceptable crew formation. The current situation is that SJA simply decide on any crew mix they like, whenever they feel a need, even to the extent they re-write SOPs in an attempt to legitimise single officer hospital ramping roles, which in our opinion constitutes a significant change of the job description of a prehospital paramedic.
Clause 20 (c) The standard crew at a Country Location, will be as determined by St John and will generally consist of one employee and one clinical Volunteer Ambulance Officer, with the exception of Bunbury Station, where St John retains the ability, with the agreement of the employee, to form a crew with a clinical Volunteer Ambulance Officer.
Kind regards
AEAWA Team