Our new name is Paramedics Australasia.

The motion was put to the membership following a unanimous board recommendation. At the specially convened EGM a secret ballot was conducted allowing the maximal representation of the membership by proxy voting. 79.23% of eligible votes were in favour of the motion and as such it was carried.

Paramedics Australasia will migrate progressively to the new name including website, stationary, and logo over the coming months.

The board is grateful to all members who attended the EGM, submitted proxy votes, and  have participated in this significant event in our history.

The audit objective was to determine whether ambulance services are sufficiently accessible and appropriately responsive, focusing on:

• indicator data and assessment of performance trends in response times
• distribution of resources and impact on service responsiveness.

The audit also considered response time performance in relation to the amalgamation of ambulance services in 2008.

Ambulance Victoria (AV) has achieved much since amalgamation, including improvements to call taking and dispatch for the whole state, and strategic planning for rural regions. However, some expected efficiencies have not been realised and the trend of deteriorating ambulance response times evident prior to amalgamation has not been arrested. Ambulances are taking longer to respond to Code 1 emergencies, with the lowest performance since 2004–05 recorded in 2009–10. Response times have worsened more in rural regions than in the metropolitan area and are worst in population centres less than 7 500. Communities of similar population size do not necessarily get the same level of responsiveness from AV.

It is likely that the significant increase is demand for emergency services in the past six years has caused most of the increase in response time. Increased funding of $185.7 million over four years from 2008–09, and amalgamation, have not succeeded in addressing this.

This points to unfinished work from the amalgamation, particularly addressing cultural issues that have persisted from Rural Ambulance Victoria, and in bedding down more sophisticated resource allocation in regional and rural areas. New funding provided by the Department of Health also needs to be better aligned with AV operational priorities.

Greater transparency in reporting response time performance and disclosing area specific targets, which take account of geography and branch staffing, is needed to better inform the public about the level of service it can realistically expect. The present reporting of statewide measures omits the level of detail necessary to give this understanding.

You can access the full copy of the report by following this link: http://www.audit.vic.gov.au/reports__publications/reports_by_year/2010-11/20100610_ambulance.aspx

There is also funding available for members who would prefer a direct application. There are many excellent meetings occurring within Australia or the broader region and members may like to consider an applications for any suitable event. Application details are available from the forms page.