Ambos leaving NT in droves
AMBULANCE workforce attrition in the Territory is the worst in the country, with 16.6 per cent of staff leaving in 2020/21.
But the rate last year was less than that of 2019/20.
NT paramedics had five times the next highest state’s rate, with WA’s attrition rate at 5 per cent and every other region at 3 per cent or lower.
In 2019/20, the number of staff leaving peaked at 20.2 per cent.
The report notes that the high rate of attrition within the Territory “can be attributed to a relatively small workforce and some graduates returning to their home state on completion of their internship”. “We all know that the NT has a highly transient workforce, similar results can be found with the public service, doctors, nurses and the police force in the NT,” Ambulance director Andrew Thomas said.
“Within the ambulance service we recruit graduates biannually from across Australia and a proportion of them return to their home state on completion of their internship every year. In recent years, we have also experienced high levels of recruitment by interstate services seeking qualified paramedics and, due to Covid-19, we know that some staff have chosen to return to their home state to be nearer to family and friends.”
However, Mr Thomas said a local paramedicine degree would make a big difference.
“This is extremely important for developing a local sustainable workforce,” he said. “Our latest intake of interns has a few people who grew up in the Territory, but went away to study. In the future they won’t need to do this.”