Tamworth paramedics take week of industrial action, refuse to bill patients as Tamworth ambulance staff prepare for second strike

Members of the Health Services Union (HSU) last week took "historic" industrial action by ignoring non-emergency triple zero calls to put pressure on the state government.

New England HSU delegate Brian Bridges said the strike action was "very successful" and drove home the point that paramedics would not accept a pay offer the union considers to be a cut.

He said paramedics would repeat the 24 hour strike on Tuesday June 22 - the day the state's budget will be published.

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Mr Bridges said ambulance staff voted on Tuesday to kick off a range of additional industrial action from Thursday.

Staff are refusing to enter debtor details and case numbers in an effort to disrupt the revenue recovery process for Ambulance NSW - he said. The service will likely eventually figure out a way to bill people, he said, but it will cause delays.

They are also largely refusing to transfer from one station to another to cover gaps, and won't transport people discharged from hospitals. Both actions would be suspended in an emergency.

The wave of industrial action will continue until Wednesday June 23, he said.

Mr Bridges said it could be the start of rolling industrial action.

"There will be ongoing industrial action in some way shape or form each day, each week. But it hasn't been ruled out that we will strike again, probably once a month or something like that," he said.

Paramedics were last year awarded a pay increase of just 0.3 per cent. In 2021 the state government offered an increase of just 1.5 per cent. Both raises were too small to keep up with inflation.

Treasurer Dominic Perrottet was contacted for comment on this story but did not respond by deadline.

A spokesperson for Mr Perrottet told the Leader earlier in June that the pay offer was accepted by the full bench of the Industrial Relations Commission of NSW.

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"The government is focused on maintaining its first-class health response, which has allowed NSW to lead the nation's economic recovery from the pandemic," he said.

About 70 per cent of local paramedics are members of the union.

Paramedics will still respond to life-threatening emergencies on June 22, but will ignore lower-acuity cases. Ambulance staff have complained recently that many cases they respond to are not genuine emergencies.

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