Source: Workers First Union
WHAT: Workers First Union and CICTAR– are launching a new research paper this Friday 22 May: Emergency! Saving New Zealand’s Ambulance Services.
To view a copy of the report, see: https://workersfirst.nz/hawkfile/2029/original/Emergency-report-web-FINAL.pdf
The report provides important new insights and details five significant issues facing our emergency ambulance services that the authors argue necessitate full governmental funding and in future, public ownership of New Zealand’s ambulances.
WHEN:
Friday 22 May, 1:00 – 2:00 PM
WHERE:
St Colomba Centre, 40 Vermont Street, Ponsonby, Auckland
WHY:
Anita Rosentreter, Workers First Deputy Secretary, said that the Emergency! report provided new insights into the scale and breadth of the challenges faced by our partially charity-funded ambulance services.
“New Zealand has an ageing population that will double in the next 40 years and increase both the number and the cost of ambulance callouts,” said Ms Rosentreter. “The cost to serve the over-65 population alone will increase 368% by 2065, meaning it will cost more than four times as much as today, growing at more than three times the rate of that population itself.”
“There’s a vast pay gap between us and Australia, and any paramedic would be 17-33% better off across the ditch. The most experienced paramedics face the largest financial incentive to leave, costing us millions in public investment that is not recouped.”
Further information will be presented at the report launch and discussed by the panel, who are available to speak to attending media. These topics include the cost of electrifying New Zealand’s ambulance fleet, the collapse in charitable giving, and coordination issues with the rest of the health service.
-Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research ( cictar.org)