Patient transfers lose WFA $300,000

Wellington Free Ambulance (WFA) has confirmed its patient transfer service went into the red by $300,000 as it heads into another round of pay negotiations with its union.

The admission substantiates claims from a long-time Wellington Free paramedic who raised concerns about inefficiencies in the service, which ferries patients to and from hospital appointments.

To meet demand, WFA used taxis ‘‘at massive costs’’ or ambulances reserved for emergencies when no other vehicles were available, the paramedic claimed.

‘‘This, ultimately, means staff lose valuable meal breaks often running over their legislated driving hours and affects emergency response times, meaning the public wait much longer for ambulances,’’ said the source who did not want to be named.

Chief executive Mike Grant said resourcing and deployment plans were continually reviewed ‘‘to make sure we have people and ambulances in the right place to meet changing demands’’.

He confirmed taxis were used when no other options were available but said: ‘‘The majority of the cost for using taxis is passed on to the DHB as part of our contracting arrangement.’’

WFA has contracts with the region’s three district health boards – Capital and Coast, Hutt Valley and Wairarapa – to pay for its patient transfer service.

Grant gave assurances the boards were providing the funding increase needed to break even this financial year.

‘‘Yes, we did have a $300k deficit in patient transfer,’’ he said. ‘‘In November last year, we undertook a review of our patient transfer service, and found a number of areas where we could do things more efficiently.’’

Grant last month told Stuff that more than five months of failed pay talks with staff, represented by the Central Amalgamated Workers Union (CAWU), were not a reflection on the company. He listed ‘‘prudent management’’ as one reason WFA remained financially secure.

Responding to those claims, the paramedic said: ‘‘This is simply not the case,’’ noting WFA’s patient transfer service as its source of greatest inefficiency.

Wellington Free Ambulance reported a $402,000 deficit in comprehensive income for 2016-17, following a $1.35 million surplus the previous year. While spending appeared to stay consistent across those two years, donations received in 2016-17 totalled $1.4m – half that of the nearly $2.7m received the previous year.

Last month, the union called on the Government to fully fund WFA – a move management said they would support. The Ministry of Health has said WFA will receive a $1.7m increase in funding this year.

Funding for the patient transfer service had no bearing on emergency ambulance response times, Grant said.

The ministry sets response time targets for ambulance services, and Grant said WFA kept internal records on demand and response times region-wide.

Each year the service responds to some 50,000 incidents. About 500 of those were immediately life-threatening and, 96 per cent of the time, the patients were reached within 12 minutes, Grant said.

WFA falls short slightly on urgent and serious jobs, 93 per cent of which were reached within 20 minutes. The ministry’s target for both is 95 per cent.

‘‘We would like to be there in a heartbeat for everyone but no amount of resourcing would make that possible,’’ Grant said. ‘‘If there is a delay, we phone people back every 30 minutes to check they are okay.’’

Concerns have been raised about the ever-increasing pressure on ambulance staff. ‘‘Notably, an intermediate life support (ILS) paramedic was now required to perform most of the skills of an intensive care paramedic (ICP) prior to mid2017. No pay increase compensated for this new skill level,’’ the medic said.

Strike action ‘‘is not something that is feasible, nor that we would be willing to consider given the significant impact on patient care’’, union members said.

The Central Amalgamated Workers’ Union wants to guarantee its members a 4 per cent pay rise annually for the next two years. Mediation was set to begin again today, interim secretary Wayne McLaughlan said. ‘‘We’ll see if we can get something sorted out.’’