AEAWA Minutes

Meeting Chaired By
Brody Munyard.

Meeting Conducted
10:30 -12:00.

Committee Attendees
Lee Waller.

Committee Apologies
John Thomas, Mike Hardwick, Dave Higgins, Jon Noble and Karren Gerristen.

SJA Attendees
Brody Munyard, Tony Fitzgerald, and Florentina Min.

This meeting had a brief agenda, and only a few reported items were sent to the AEA for discussion. If there are any items you would like raised at future JCCs please email your committee or speak to a delegate.

Agenda Items

Tutoring
Members have approached the AEA recently as they have been listed as a tutor and are signing people off, however, they have not completed any official St John tutor courses on LMS.

The AEAWA asked St John to look into this further and they have agreed. St John reiterated that they do not want any employees tutoring, who are not up to date and current with the current processes.

Rostering
Officers have requested to change rosters (lates to early) for a break in working late and have been denied this change, even when there are gaps in the roster for early shifts. Members are also stating that recently students appear on the roster on early shifts, and relatively close to their homes, whilst longer term employees travel further.

St John are happy to review this, but also stated that it is dependent on numerous factors. Most tutors appear to work early shifts, so when students come on road, that shift has the most tutors.

This led to a further conversation regarding why employees chose not to tutor new students. The AEA suggested two significant downfalls relating to the current process.

1. Tutors are often removed from their depots to go and tutor. St John have a history of moving the tutor to the student, rather that the student to the tutor. This means that tutors who are continually performing that role, are moved constantly.
2. There is no pause button for tutors. St John also have a history of burning tutors out. If you are on the system as a tutor and require a break, it rarely is afforded. Officers have contacted rosters for a break and find they are still placed with a student.

Lunch Breaks
Members have stated there is a lot of inconsistencies in dispatch when accessing their meal breaks. Some dispatches will allow you time to get somewhere suitable, and others do not. Not all hospitals have facilities to access, however there is the mindset that officers can take their meal breaks at any time, at any hospital.

St John were advised that although some hospitals may have facilities during the day, they may not have at night. St John are happy for crews to request other locations (within reason), if there are no facilities present at the location.

The AEAWA would like to remind all officers that if you arrive at one of these facilities and you deem it unsuitable, advise dispatch to have you moved to a suitable location; and please as always use the report button on the website, so the AEA can discuss suitable locations with senior management.

Rain Jackets
Rain jackets have been requested by many Community Transport Officers, however, most still have not been provided with one. What is the timeframe for these items to be provided to employees?

St John have now placed rain jackets on the uniform request system for employees to order. If any Community Transport Officer has issues obtaining one, they can contact their line manager to assist with the ordering process.

The AEA were made aware that these jackets are different to the ones provided to other operational staff, and if you have any issues with the material etc, to please email the AEA.

Meeting Closed
12:00.

Next Meeting
TBA – sometime in January 2025.

Meeting Chaired By
Carly Rees.

Meeting Conducted
10:30 -12:00.

Committee Attendees
Lee Waller and Callan McClure

Committee Apologies
John Thomas, Mike Hardwick, and Dave Higgins.

SJA Attendees
Carly Rees, Hailee Harvey, Paul Wroth, Wil White and Florentina Min.

AEAWA Agenda Items

Triple time quota
Members would like to know if there is a quota for the number of shifts offered during times of triple-time, many officers are told no, when spots are clearly available.

St John stated there was not, as long as the Overtime SOP was followed. The SOP that was put together with no communication or consultation. St John stated they will review this. The AEA would like any officer who has been ‘knocked back’ by rosters should email the AEA with details, so that this issue can be sorted.

Email specifics such as time, date, who you spoke to at rosters, and any other information you deem pertinent to [email protected] or use the report button on the website.

Calls to clear
Members have noted increased calls from SOC asking them to clear as there is no community response available. At times officers still have not yet completed their paperwork, which leads to negative feedback during clinical audits.

Members appear to be in a no-win scenario. The AEAWA would like to address this matter of concern. Your paperwork is a vital component of medical documentation. Even if a manager states “just write you needed to clear for a job, and had to submit the ePCR’” you may not be fully covered if things go wrong.

Remember it is not just St John you may have to answer too if you miss vital information on your case sheet. It could by the Police, the Coroner or an AHPRA investigator. And they may not be so eager to her that rationale.

Roster requests
Some officers appear to continually be denied roster requests to work with a specific person, whilst others appear to have no issue.

Members are becoming quite annoyed at the constant ‘No’ from St John and would like to know what organisational process are in place to address this.

Basically, there are little. The same talk of discuss this with your manager, or email rosters come up. Then the new transformation on who to make things better was discussed.

In the meantime, if you have made a reasonable request and are denied, let us know.

Delegate releases
There are numerous organisational meetings that require a Union/Association delegate to attend. St John WA continually send emails pre-meeting that due to operational requirements; some officers cannot be released. This requires urgent attention…… again.

Discussions occurred around bunching the many meetings we have together, the AEA believes it may be easier to manage. St John were once again placed on notice that if we can not be released for pertinent meetings, they will need to be rescheduled.

Midland triage system
The AEAWA would like to know why this process came in, and that crews are not trained on this piece of equipment. It is our belief that the organisation needs to advise St John of God Midland that St John employees will no longer utilise this system.

St John stated they were not even consulted with this, the process just came in. St John stated that they have advised staff at Midland that this is for patient use, not the crews.

WE ARE TO CEASE USING THIS IMMEDIATELY.

Time frame responding to emails
Members are still advising us of the extreme delays in receiving an organisational response. The AEAWA would like to address this issue urgently.

Again, discussions went around and around. The new transformation changes will fix this, but we have no idea when this will occur. Your committee believes if you make a reasonable request in a reasonable timeframe this should be actioned by the organisation. For all those sent the St John ‘NO’ should discuss this with a delegate.

That ended the niceties for the day……….. It went south from here!

Denying a support person
St John are again denying officers the right to have a support person present at a disciplinary meeting. The AEAWA would like to address this matter.

The AEA discussed numerous examples of this behaviour or shoe horning staff into meeting rooms by St John with no support. The AEA even brought up the unfortunate history of employees who have significantly harmed themselves post meetings with employee relations and the disciplinary process.

St John responded with there’s no time to wait for a support person and they do not have to provide one.

It then went nuclear, and the meeting ended…

If you are forced into a meeting without a support person and you want one DO NOT GO IN…. DO NOT BE BULLIED, you have a right to be supported. Use that right.
Immediately excuse yourself and call a delegate immediately or go to www.aeawa.com.au and look at the two emergency numbers on the top right corner of the page. There is always time to obtain support

Meeting Closed
12:15.

Next Meeting
TBA.

Meeting Chaired By
Brody Munyard.

Meeting Conducted
12:30 -15:30.

Committee Attendees
There were no AEAWA Committee attendees due to multiple member representations and AEAWA commitments at the Fair Work Commission. All member queries were sent to St John to action.

Committee Apologies
John Thomas, Mike Hardwick, Lee Waller, Dave Higgins, Jon Noble and Karren Gerristen.

SJA Attendees
Brody Munyard, Tony Fitzgerald, and Florentina Min.

Agenda Items

Overtime Process
Many members do not like the process of continually calling comms to state they have to knock off on time. At numerous JCCs the discussion of an AmbiCad function has been discussed with a simple ‘Yes’, ‘No’ response to would you like to do OT.

Again, St John can not seem to answer this question. The response the AEAWA received had no answer to the AmbiCad message. At previous JCCs the AEAWA had mentioned many members feel ‘pressured’ to do the call.

St John stated that they have audited numerous calls and have found no instances were this has occurred. The AEAWA would like to remind members that if they do feel pressured. They should note the details of the call (who they spoke to, the time/date or case number, and why they believed they felt pressured), so the AEAWA can provide specific examples to St John to rectify this issue.

Members Want to Know the St John Definition of Reasonable Overtime
Dependent on what manager is asked, to what dispatcher is asked, you get multiple answers, which causes issues across the fleet.

St John are currently working on a Policy to define this; incidentally, this is the same Policy we have been asking for 3-years….. so you may need to read it on days off… it could be long.

Members Would Like to Know if St John Keep Records of Those Who Refuse Shift Extensions?
St John were going to check if there is a record of those who refuse to do shift extensions. The response was ‘we do not keep a record of employees who refuse to do overtime. However, if it is an ongoing issue, we will flag it with their team leader for follow up’.

To flag ongoing issues, they need to keep a record of it. Although the email response states they do not record crews saying no to shift extensions, the AEAWA believes they do, or they will commence that practice.

This in mind, and there has been no definition of what reasonable overtime is, what you perceive as reasonably may not be what St John perceives. In short, we will continue to push the fact that it is up to them as an organisation to allow you to knock off on time, and that the continual practice to beg to finish your shift on time is not supported by the AEAWA.

Community Calls to 4×4 Crews
St John was asked to look into the allocation of community calls to the 4×4 crews to ensure they are evenly spread. St John reviewed this and have stated this is occurring, and the spread of that workload is relatively even. They did reiterate if there is further information, or some who believe this is not the case, they are happy to review these details again.

FSH Directive for Transport Crews
St John was asked to speak to FSH and ask the question regarding paperwork, as crews are often required to split to facilitate the documentation. It was basically asked by the membership; what would they like us to do when a patient requires two people to manage them, and one of us has to leave?

St John was advised by FSH; the crew looking after the patient can ask for assistance from the hospital staff if their condition is deteriorating. If the patient is of a higher risk, we need to question their suitability for Patient Transport.

The Senior St John management team will raise with FSH and TL’s to support with advice around which patients are not suitable for PTS. Although this is great for high riskpatients, it wasn’t our question.

Each and every crew needs to split during these times. Our question is, what happens if a solo Transport Officer (as their partner has walked away to do paperwork) has a patient who is deemed an appropriate transport allocated job, suddenly deteriorates whilst on the stretcher.

The AEAWA will again try to get this question answered.

Fulltime Officers Applying for Country Relief
There were reports of officers being denied the opportunity to do country relief positions because they were mentors. This led to discussions of unfair practices and discrimination against members who were mentors.

St John have stated that they have resolved this issue, and those who are mentors can apply away for positions. Again, if this issue returns members are advised to contact St John or the AEAWA to discuss these further.

Wheelchair Van Update
Any new vehicles that do come online will not be trialled first; the operation is completely the same as the current ones only small changes like a baggage compartment and draws in the rear.

The decision was made to start production of all at once to get them replaced quicker. The first is due shortly and it should be operational by the end of July. Vehicles are replaced based on the replacement schedule. Oldest vehicles replaced first.

Wheelchair Van Taking Double Up Calls
St Johns have advised the Communications Officers that Wheelchair vans should not be doubling up on patients, and that should not be at the discretion of staff. This is a huge safety win for the membership.

Any officer working in this vehicle should not be transporting multiple patients at a time. You can advise if you are asked to, you can not take more than one patient.

If you have any issues, please contact the AEAWA immediately and we will discuss this again with senior management.

Window Tinting
Members asked if these vehicles could be tinted, due to the levels of heat entering the cabin. Previously the vehicles were fitted with privacy tinting, which was removed at it caused nausea with a percentage of patients.

St Johns have stated that they will be tinted shortly. If any member feels the tinting is substandard, they can contact the AEAWA to again raise as an issue.

Overtime Allocation
Members would like to see an overtime policy throughout the regions. In most cases, overtime is going to casuals first and full timers last. In some areas, it is full-time staff first.

Members want a clear St John’s process for overtime allocation, and also asked do Regional Managers have the ability to change this policy.

St Johns responded that they would provide shifts to casuals first and full-timers last, declined to answer the question on weather Regional Managers can simply change the Policy, and then advised that again… the Policy is in development.

If anyone ever visits development….. could you please bring back all the Policies.

Transport/Medic Contracts
There appears to be uncertainty and confusion regarding contracts for many officers. Emails to Employee Relations often go unanswered, and members often obtain wrong or misleading information. It seems not many senior staff at St John are aware of these contracts.

The AEAWA would like to know who the St John contact person is relating to employee contracts and is there a policy on timeframes this person has to answer questions. Many employees have been waiting months.

The response sent back to the AEAWA was ‘we need more information. If you provide us with an example, we’re happy to look into it. Employees who have been waiting can also follow up with their line managers’.

The first part regarding confusion was clearly answered. We again were not provided with details of who the contact person. When it comes to organisational timeframes St John had another episode of amnesia.

The AEAWA believe these questions could be answered relatively quickly, so we will again resend the questions.

LAR Expression of Interest
Numerous full-time staff who applied to work with a LAR Medic for the winter plan were unsuccessful with their application. However, it appears that some officers who had just finished being mentored, and casual employees were successful. Many believe that being full time with St John often hinders them in applying for such positions.

Can St John provide the classification (full time, Part time, Casual) of these officers who were successful?

St John responded by stating the selection for the LAR winter plan was randomised, and applications must have been received by the due date. The selection criteria were ATO’s who had completed CEP with the TOM training. There is a mix of full time, casuals and part-timers in the pool. Selection on who is used is dependent on availability, preference of shift colour, location etc.

The AEAWA will ask for the definition of ‘randomised’; is this a chook raffle, spin the wheel, names out of a hat or the first 10 you see go through.

Casual and Part-Time Limited Shifts
We have been told that casuals have been limited to 3 shifts per week and weekenders are limited to 2 shifts per week. The issue being is, some casuals are still working 5 shifts a week, and others are being limited. Are rosters following the policy?

This process has always been in place and used to ensure equal shifts are given to all casuals and weekenders. The AEAWA understand this…. We helped develop it for fairness and transparency.

In saying this, St John are having issues filling shifts especially the casual roster. Coincidentally this is the same scenario the AEAWA stated would happen when St John removed numerous casuals from the roster. There was a clear view of St John that they had too many casual employees.

St John also advised that initially everyone will receive the same amount of shifts, then those who can do more will be offered more dependent on availability.

Stryker/Ferno Training
Members have approached the AEAWA stating that some of our newer officers have been trained on the Stryker Stretchers and not Fernos, which has created issues when they have been rostered to a Ferno vehicle.

The AEAWA would like to know if during training, the officers are signed off on both devices, and what does that training package contain?

St Johns state all officers are trained in both Ferno and Stryker stretchers. This training is covered under the manual handling delivery, which is a 1-day course with refreshers throughout and assessments (skill sign offs).

For the Stryker Stretcher specifically, students are enrolled in an LMS course which includes a quiz and a sign-off for their practical skills. For the Fernos, there are no online LMS courses, but there are practical skills and signoffs for their assessments.

LAR Winter Plan
There has been some confusion when Transport Officers work with Medics for this plan. The question has been asked, if it is the Transport Officer’s day to attend and they are called to a community call, who attends it?

Some officers are declining to attend as they state community calls are not within their scope, while some attend as they are working with a Medic. This cause confusion amongst officers. Can St John please provide some clarification.

St John believe that a TOM can attend if it’s within their scope. If outside TOM’s scope, then LAR attends. St John will email those within the program to alleviate any concerns and provide that clarity to any concerned officers.

The 4×4 Trial
The trial appears to have been extended again, and members are suggesting it is the same officers who are approached to work it. Has there been an Expression of Interest put out to the troops? What is the process to work these shifts?

At the moment, St John are working through the EOI process if any vacancies arise. There is a plan to fill these positions on a permanent basis in the future. When this occurs, there will be a proper application process for the position.

Stryker Roll Out
There appears to be a reduction in new vehicles and upgrades to old ones. Are we able to get an update on the timeframe to sort all vehicles, and how many are being worked on at this point in time?

St John replied ‘PTS has over 50% Strykers currently. The Fleet Manager is also no longer with us, so we are still working on it. PTS had 3 Stryker’s rolled out this month. St John is getting 8 per month and this is allocated between PTS, Metro and Country’.

Lunch Break Allocation
We understand that the new PTS Agreement is not currently active (when this initial query was asked), so the ‘lunch break’ clause has not commenced however, members are advising us that they have been stood down from a job and put on a lunch break in the middle of the freeway or a busy road, with no consideration to the crew. This leads to poor morale, and many officers not being able to access any facilities to have a break.

The new PTS Certified Agreement is no active. St John stated, ‘no one is expected to take a break in the middle of the freeway’. Please advise the AEAWA if there is any deviation at all to your lunch break entitlement. As this would be viewed and a breach of your Agreement.

For clarity your entitlement is

26 MEAL BREAKS
(a) Employees are entitled to one uninterrupted 30 minute paid meal break on shifts of 8.5 hours or more, not to be taken within the first two and a half hours or the last two hours of  the shift unless mutually agreed between St John and the Employee with the following conditions:
(i) the meal break cannot be taken within the first two and a half hours or the last two hours of the shift unless mutually agreed between St John and the Employee; and
(ii) the break may be interrupted to meet urgent operational needs.
(b) The meal break will be counted as time worked.
(c) St John will direct a meal break to be taken:
(i) when operationally suitable; and
(ii) within the meal break span specified in clause 26(a)(i).
(d) If an Employee’s meal break is interrupted, in accordance with clause 26 (a) (ii) or if the Employee is not provided a meal break in accordance with this clause, the Employee shall be paid a meal break penalty in accordance with APPENDIX 2.
(e) Employees are only entitled to claim one meal break penalty per shift.
(f) St John may direct Employees to take a meal break:
(i) when an Employee is at a facility with adequate amenities including access to toilets, drinks, food and/or reheating and seating facilities (e.g., a hospital, a station or St John property).; or 34
(ii) where an Employee notifies they are at a location they would like to take a break (e.g., a café, shopping center or outdoor location).
(g) St John may direct an Employee to attend a suitable meal break facility for the purposes of taking a meal break.
(h) An Employee who is directed to take a meal break and refuses will not be entitled to the meal break penalty under clause 26(d) or a subsequent break during the remainder of their shift.

KWI71 Conversion
At the last JCC a discussion took place on the conversion of KWI71. St John stated that the vehicle was in effect closed and the roster changed as no one on the list wanted the position.

When the minutes were posted, the AEAWA was contacted from officers on that list who have never been contacted for that position.

St John replied ‘These positions are held by two officers. They have been held since 2020. Those people are currently on varied hours contracts. They are not working in the allocated spot currently. When we have another van, we will restart Kwinana 71 shift’.

Meeting Closed
15:30.

Next Meeting
TBA – sometime in September.

Meeting Chaired By
John Thomas.

Meeting Conducted
12:30 – 13:30.

Committee Attendee’s
John Thomas, Mike Hardwick, Lee Waller, Callan McClure, Dave Higgins, Conrad Fairhead, Andrew Kerfoot, Lindsey MacDougall, Dave Bryant, Rick Candy, Chris Smith, Justin Ingrey, Phil Stanatis, Jesse George and Aaron Pittaway.

Committee Apologies
Shane Gray and Paul Davies.

Previous Minutes Accepted By
Moved by John Thomas and Seconded by Jesse George

Meeting Agenda

This is the monthly scheduled AEAWA meeting for all the Association Committees (Executive, Paramedic, Communications, Medic, and Transport). Association correspondence and issues from the membership will be discussed here.

AEAWA Business

New AEAWA members
There has been a total of 24 new members signed with the AEAWA since our last committee meeting. The Executive have been running a recruitment campaign which has involved general emails, crew discussions and talks with the new Operational Support Officers, Communications Officers, Direct Entrants, Medics, and students within the college.

Paramedics and Ambulance Officers EBA Update
Minutes from the Paramedic EBA meeting 9 can be found on the AEAWA website, seen here https://www.aeawa.com.au/eba/paramedics/. Please check the website and the AEAWA Facebook page for regular EBA updates. So far the negotiations have been arduous and there appears to be a lack of appetite by St John to resolve many of the issues raised in the AEAWAs log of claims.

The AEAWA would like the membership to stay vigilant, as this will most likely be one of the longest EBA negotiations in our history.

AEAWA Application to Become a Registered Union
The AEAWA are still awaiting the FairWork verdict regarding our application for Union status. Any time now the Vice President will hand down the decision, and when that verdict is known we will inform the membership.

New AEAWA Delegate
The AEAWA would like to welcome Jordan Campos and Chris Leonard to the AEAWA SOC Committee.

General Business

Mould In Bunbury Station
The mould situation at Bunbury Depot seems to have been resolved. The AEAWA would still like to question why after multiple reports of the mould in the storeroom, did it take so long to fix this issue, and most importantly, why were staff not informed of the extent of the situation.

Rain Jackets for Community Transport
Again the issue of our Community Transport Officers, not being provided any wet weather gear. The AEAWA have written to St John to understand why these officers have not been provided this protection and have formalised this process through the Transport JCC.

Denial of Union Support
St John have once again, commenced the process of marching employees into meetings and denying members a support person. If this occurs ‘YOU ARE ALLOWED ONE’. You can at any stage cease the meeting and contact any delegate to support you. DO NOT be bullied into any meeting at any time.

Access to Suitable Areas for Lunch Breaks
Many Transport members are still being placed on lunch breaks whilst driving. The AEAWA would like to remind officers that ‘Meal Breaks’ are a negotiated EBA item and is contained in your Agreement.

St John must follow the below clause when allocating a Meal Break to a Transport or Medic crew. At all-time please remember your rights in the workplace.

26 MEAL BREAKS
(f) St John may direct Employees to take a meal break:
(i) when an Employee is at a facility with adequate amenities including access to toilets, drinks, food and/or reheating and seating facilities (e.g., a hospital, a station or St John property).; or 34
(ii) where an Employee notifies they are at a location they would like to take a break (e.g., a café, shopping centre or outdoor location).

Meeting Concluded
13:30.

Next Meeting
TBA.

Meeting Chaired By
Wil White.

Meeting Conducted
13:30 -14:30.

Committee Attendees
Lee Waller, Kam Phagura and Lyn Spalding.

Committee Apologies
John Thomas, Mike Hardwick, Dave Higgins, Nick Willis and Monique Hahn.

SJA Attendees
Wil White, Deb Strachan, Kate Lawrence, and Florentina Min.

St John Agenda Items

SOC General Updates
St John opened the meeting by stating the new implementation regarding the transformation will be finished in mid-August. There were also further updated listed below.

Training
By the middle of August recruitment for more staff will commence, with 6-employees scheduled to start the new training school. Currently the new RTMs are commencing training (scheduled for an August completion), and the ANCs should be completed at the same time.

The Ground Floor
The ground floor drawings have been completed. St John are currently in the process of looking for another tender. This is to ensure they get the design of the building right for purpose. Once those drawings have been completed, they will be used by the working group to review the designs. Once this has occurred a feedback process and review will commence.

ACE Accreditation
Currently St John are on track regarding accreditation, as compliance is constantly improving. This is a great achievement for those within the SOC and Wangara HUB.

Shift Engagement
St John is currently focused on the State Control Centre and the changes that are required to implement this change. As all would be aware, there has been a leadership change recently. There will be two shift Supervisors (one based in Belmont and the other at Wangara).

Parts of the previous Duty Manager roles will be carried out by these new management teams, which will also oversee the new Dispatch Coordinators and Urban and Costal ANCs.

After these changes are implemented, St John have stated there will be a period for feedback from all employees, and if certain things need to change, they will ensure they happen.

Of the previous Duty Managers, two will most likely stay and move into the Shift Supervisor positions. The recruitment process for the various other positions will commence shortly.

Technology / Systems / CAD Updates
Version 14 of ProQA has been completed and rolled out. Although there were some minor issues during the rollout, these were able to be rectified quite quickly, and St John are now the second state within Australia using this version.

Mapping
The first changes to the AmbiCAD messaging screen is now live, and the feedback received so far is that they are making a difference. The mapping will no longer be hidden behind the message screen, and the need to constantly touch the screen has been reduced. Messages are now categorised in the order of priority.

HEPA Filters
St John want to remind staff that the devices must be left on. The filters have been recently changed out. There has been reports that some employees turn them off due to the noise level of the filtration system.

The filters were placed into the room after an assessment by an air specialist, and the feedback was to place one of the devices on every third desk. St John has placed one on every desk to ensure the air quality is as safe as possible.

St John have found that they have been moved around, and in some instances placed in the back of the room. An email will be sent out shortly emphasising the importance of these devices staying in situ, and they are to be left on.

Deep Clean
The deep clean is scheduled every 6-months, St John would like this done every 3-months. Many members have stated that the cleaning is not a deep clean, as has been suggested in the past. There will be a book placed in both the SOC and Wangara HUB for staff to identify cleanliness within the room and where the cleaners should focus their efforts.

Ground Floor Ideas
During the initial feedback sessions regarding the ground floor, the idea of a creche was floated, which gained some traction between employees and the organisation. Currently a business case is being reviewed to ascertain if this could work. Other ideas have been a multi-purpose room, and a gym.

There has also been plenty of discussions around the lighting within the room. Members have asked for a warmer light (so its not so bright) on night shifts. There has also been discussion occurring around acoustic padding to reduce noise levels within the room. St John at this stage appear to want ideas from employees to ensure the new room is embraced by all.

Agenda Items

Delegate Releases
The AEAWA wanted to highlight the constant difficulty regarding member releases. Emails are sent in to release delegates, then nothing….. crickets. Initially St john questioned this, but once they discovered one of the ‘released’ delegates was still taking triple calls and was told they would not be released due to current workload, they understood the dilemma.

The assurance was given, that the releases would be actioned, and any issues should be reported to Wil White.

EBA Back Pay for Past Employees
The AEAWA have received emails form previous employees who have left St John whilst the Certified Agreement was being reviewed at the Fair Work Commission. Numerous emails have been sent to Payroll regarding the eligibility of officers receiving these payments. Some are being advised the Backpay component will be paid from July 1st, one was advised the back pay will be from the commencement of the Agreement, and another officer was advised as they are no longer an employee, they will not receive any payments.

Through the AEAWA legal team, we have been advised that past employees are entitled to these payments, and St John are reviewing this.

Back Pay Used For Negative Special Leave
The AEAWA were contacted by numerous members regarding the EBA back pay, and the requirement for them to have to pay back Special Leave. Those with negative Special Leave balances were allegedly advised their balances must be set to ‘o’.

Members have forwarded the following email to the AEAWA.

“Regarding special leave any Team Members who wish to use their backpay to repay any owing special leave will also be required to repay any allowances paid to them during their special leave, such as day and night, shift, and rotating roster allowances. If you have already organised the repayment but do not wish to proceed, please contact Payroll as soon as possible”.

St John advised that this was not the case, and that officers were given the option to pay their back payments into their Special Leave if they were in a negative balance. This was a voluntary option.

If any member, did feel pressured to pay back their balance they can contact the AEAWA directly to discuss.

Chronic Understaffing
Black shift had only 4 call takers on the 6/7 June night shifts. Overtime messages were sent out, yet you were only accepted by St John for a full 12-hour shift, and the texts were sent out at 5pm.

St John stated that there were 14 Call Takers rostered over that time period, however they did admit to the notice for overtime being sent out too late.

They AEAWA asked for the process to be more streamlined, as it is highly unlikely an officer would accept a full night shift overtime with little notice, and no ability to prep for the night shift. By providing more notice, the organisation increases the likelihood of filling these positions.

Although the Joyce Inquiry states, under Recommendation 3 (2009/10) that there should be 12-15 Communications Officers rostered (excluding Managers, RTMs and ANCs). St Johns still have a set minimum limit of 10 Call Takers and 6 Radio Dispatchers. Bearing in mind that the Joyce Inquiry was conducted and calculated on the 2008/9 workload.

Changes To Overtime
Members contacted the AEAWA regarding a change in which overtime is being scheduled by St John. Some officers have been advised that overtime will only be provided for full shifts only, while other officers have been advised that overtime is only given to shift lengths that are 7-hours and above.

After discussion it appears there has been some initial confusion, now we are working under the new Communications Officers Certified Agreement.

‘Scheduled’ shifts (i.e. normal rostered shifts) cannot be rostered for below 7-hours, which was a Fair Work requitement which was implemented during the last round of negotiations. Overtime shifts are not classed as scheduled shifts, so officers can come in on ICBs for time periods below 7-hours. St John will discuss internally and sort this issue.

Timeline For New SOC
Members have asked when will the new SOC be completed. St John have stated that as the building they are currently working on is no were near complete, there will be lengthy delays. The team on the ground floor cannot move for the renovations until the building they need to move into is completed. The timeline of December will not be achieved, and further timelines will be provided.

Timing of Cleaner Arriving
The cleaner sometimes arrives on or around shift change over. Members find it hard to hand over, during the busiest time in the SOC, especially when there is a vacuum cleaner in the background. Members have asked if a better time can be arranged to stop this occurring.

St John agreed, and although they believed this had already been sorted previously, they will again review the time.

STT at Wangara
Currently STT have four desks at the Wangara HUB. Members have stated this takes up a lot of room, and sometimes it is difficult for Call Takers to find desks to work at.

The AEAWA have asked St Johns to look into this, and after discussions, it has been resolved. St John will convert the meeting room into a quiet room, and two desks will be made available for STT in a smaller room.

Lockers
Members have stated there are few lockers available for staff, and it appears that St John are waiting for the new room to be completed (which will have ample locker space). The question was asked if St John would just buy some lockers in the interim, especially with the news of a delay in moving into the new SOC.

St John have agreed to investigate this and will return with an answer shortly.

Meeting Closed
13:30.

Next Meeting
September 2024. If there are any items you would like added to the next SOC JCC agenda, please email [email protected]

Meeting Chaired By
John Thomas.

Meeting Conducted
12:30 – 13:30.

Committee Attendee’s
John Thomas, Mike Hardwick, Lee Waller, Callan McClure, Dave Higgins, Conrad Fairhead, Andrew Kerfoot, Lindsey MacDougall, Dave Bryant, Rick Candy, Chris Smith, Justin Ingrey, Phil Stanatis and Aaron Pittaway.

Committee Apologies
Shane Gray, Paul Davies and Jesse George.

Previous Minutes Accepted By
Moved by Dave Higgins and Seconded by Mike Hardwick.

Meeting Agenda
This is the monthly scheduled AEAWA meeting for all the Association Committees (Executive, Paramedic, Communications, Medic, and Transport). Association correspondence and issues from the membership will be discussed here.

AEAWA Business

New AEAWA Members
There has been a total of 37 new members signed with the AEAWA since our last Committee meeting in April. We would like to welcome them aboard.

Paramedics and Ambulance Officers EBA Update
Minutes from the Paramedic EBA meeting 13 can be found on the AEAWA website, seen here https://www.aeawa.com.au/eba/paramedics/. Please check the website and the AEAWA Facebook page for regular EBA updates. So far it’s a slow process, but we need to stand together for what is best for our profession

AEAWA Application to Become a Registered Union
Still no verdict has been returned by FairWork and the Vice President. As soon as we know the answer, we will inform the membership.

General Business

Being Denied a Support Person
Members have approached AEA Delegates stating that St John have approached them for a disciplinary meeting and denied them a support person.

There has been case law already established in Fair Work hearings.

Laker v Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited [2010] FWA 5713 (Lewin C, 28 September 2010).

The employee was dismissed for poor performance. The employee requested that the disciplinary meeting be rescheduled to allow for the attendance of a union representative. The employer refused to reschedule the meeting. It was held that the request for adjournment was not an unreasonable burden on the employer. It was found that the dismissal was unfair because the conduct of the termination meeting was unreasonable.

Midland Triage System
Members are outraged about this fly-by-night system, it was poorly introduced and frankly, not our job to triage patients.

St John appear to be accepting of having no ambulances in the community, while their Ambulance fleet triage their own patients, perform skills for the hospital on the ramp, and of course who can forget…. Taking these patients for x-rays, to other wards and site seeing other parts of the hospital.

We are starting to think the ramping payment paid to St John by the WA Government must be far more attractive than improving the services standby capacity for the WA community.

The AEAWA are discussing this matter with St John.

Issues in SOC
Again, there appears to be a blatant disregard for the recruitment process in SOC, were roles have not been advertised, and the poorly accepted St John tap on the shoulder has once again surfaced.

The AEAWA will raise this inequity again at the SOC JCC were we are sure they will deny it ever happened.

Security Issue for SOC employees
It was discussed that there is now minimal parking for those in SOC as STT are now parking in there. There are limited bays available and staff find themselves parking in a poorly lit area, away from the building.

The AEAWA will raise this issue with SOC management to find a safer solution.

AmbiCad Response for Overtime/Shift Extension
Many PTS members do not like the process of continually calling comms to state they have to knock off on time. At numerous JCCs the discussion of an AmbiCad function has been discussed with a simple ‘Yes’, ‘No’ response to would you like to do OT.

This has been briefly discussed; however, it appears to be a long way from being implemented. St John appear to be more invested in employees phoning the call centre daily to state you do not want to do overtime…. Most likely so you are recorded saying it.

Again, we will ask St John what is occurring with this system.

Rain Jackets for Community Transport Officers
Community Transport Officers have requested rain jackets. These members are unable to park close to entrances of hospitals, and under cover areas. They are often walking patients in the rain, and their current uniform is substandard for wet conditions.

The AEAWA will approach S John to organise this ASAP.

Meeting Concluded
10:15

Next Meeting
Wednesday 9th August, 2024 from 08:30 – 10:30.

Meeting Chaired By
John Thomas.

Meeting Conducted
12:30 – 13:30.

Committee Attendee’s
John Thomas, Mike Hardwick, Lee Waller, Callan McClure, Dave Higgins, Conrad Fairhead, Andrew Kerfoot, Lindsey MacDougall, Dave Bryant, Rick Candy, Chris Smith, Justin Ingrey, Phil Stanatis and Aaron Pittaway.

Committee Apologies
Shane Gray, Paul Davies and Jesse George.

Previous Minutes Accepted By
Moved by Lee Waller and Seconded by Mike Hardwick.

Meeting Agenda

This is the monthly scheduled AEAWA meeting for all the Association Committees (Executive, Paramedic, Communications, Medic, and Transport). Association correspondence and issues from the membership will be discussed here.

AEAWA Business

New AEAWA members
There has been a total of 259 new members signed with the AEAWA since January 1st, 2024. The Executive have been running a recruitment campaign which has involved general emails, crew discussions and talks with the new Operational Support Officers, Communications Officers, Direct Entrants, Medics, and students within the college.

Communications Officers EBA Update
The Communications Officers Agreement was voted on last month, and at the conclusion of the 7-day voting period the results were as follows.

Of the eligible 155 employees, 135 votes were cast (87.0% response rate), with 99.3% voting ‘Yes’ (n=134) and 0.7% voting ‘No’ (n=1).

The Agreement now sits at the Fair Work Commission. Notification will arrive in the coming weeks, advising all employees contained within the Agreement on when it will be implemented.

Ambulance Transport and Medics EBA Update
The newly named Patient Transport Services Agreement was voted on last month, and at the conclusion of the 7-day voting period the results were as follows.

Of the eligible 365 employees, 260 votes were cast (71.2% response rate), with 85.8% voting ‘Yes’ (n=223) and 14.2% voting ‘No’ (n=37).

The Agreement (as with the Communications Officers Agreement) now sits at the Fair Work Commission. Notification will arrive in the coming weeks, advising all employees contained within the Agreement on when it will be implemented.

Paramedics and Ambulance Officers EBA Update
Minutes from the Paramedic EBA meeting 3 can be found on the AEAWA website, seen here https://www.aeawa.com.au/eba/paramedics/. Please check the website and the AEAWA Facebook page for regular EBA updates.

AEAWA Application to Become a Registered Union
Currently the AEAWA have applied to become a Registered Union. This has passed through the Department of Commerce and is currently set for a hearing at the Fair Work Commission in May, as surprise, surprise; the United Workers Union are fighting us to become registered. More updates will follow soon.

New AEAWA Delegate
The AEAWA would like to welcome Lindsey MacDougall to the AEAWA Paramedic Committee. For those working Red Shift NOR, you will see Lindsey about.

AEAWA Current Disputes
The executive are pleased to announce the outcome of a formal dispute process the AEAWA initiated in relation to the Shift Commencement Allowance (SCA).

TLDR:
Please be advised that the SCA will now be payable to ALL Paramedic / AO employees who accept and deploy to a call not only within the first 5 minutes of their shift start, but also to any call accepted PRIOR to commencement of their shift, in full accordance with the terms of Clause 21 ‘Shift Commencement Checks’. Furthermore, as a result on this dispute, there will be a back-payment of approximately 13,000 unpaid SCA’s, for our members.

That equates to around 3250 hours of unpaid work (equivalent to 270 x 12 hour shifts). This is time spent checking equipment, medication and vehicles prior to accepting and deploying to a job, which will now be paid to you, our members. Going forward, it is estimated that there will be approximately 720 pre-shift SCA’s incurred each month that up until now would not have been paid. As you are aware, an SCA equivalent to 15 minutes pay at 200% of the Employee’s base hourly rate.

Long Version:
The Shift Commencement Allowance (SCA) was designed to compensate employees for work performed checking the equipment, medication and vehicles PRIOR to accepting a call. This work had NEVER previously been paid by St John. The new allowance was introduced at the 2021 EBA as a result of a claim by the AEAWA. Since the introduction of the new allowance, St John had refused to pay the SCA in circumstances where pre-shift overtime had also been incurred. That is, they had refused to pay the SCA allowance for ANY job accepted prior to shift commencement.

The issue of underpayment was first raised formally by AEAWA delegates on 31st August 2023, advising St John of their intention to enact the Dispute Settling Procedure, in accordance with clause 38 of the Agreement. Despite extensive correspondence, parties to the Dispute Settling Procedure failed to reach agreement, and the matter was referred by the Fair Work Commission by way of F10 dispute on 21st September 2023. The matter was heard by conference by the Deputy President of the Fair Work Commission.

During conference, an agreement was reached to resolve the matter, however St John later advised the FWC that due to a miscommunication, the agreement was not tenable. Further correspondence between parties and their legal representatives took place, but the matter collapsed due to an unforeseen complexity.

On 1st November 2023 at a Joint Consultative Committee meeting (JCC) the AEAWA again raised the issue of non-payment of SCA, for calls accepted before the commencement of shift. At the JCC meeting, St John stated that their position is that ‘only one penalty rate applies for any pre-shift work’. That is, ‘overtime and the shift commencement check rates were NOT cumulative.’

During the same meeting, UWU representatives also confirmed their agreement with St John interpretation, that the clauses (overtime and SCA) were not cumulative. We disagreed. On 6th December 2023 the AEAWA again wrote to St John advising of their intention to enact the Dispute Settling Procedure. By 3rd March 2024, the Dispute Settling Procedure had been exhausted, and the AEAWA again lodged an F10 dispute with the Fair Work Commission.

The matter listed for conference before the Deputy President of Fair Work on 8th March 2024, and St John solicitors provided their formal rebuttal of the AEAWA position on 7th March. St John lawyers alleged the payment of an SCA would amount to a ‘double dip’ payment ‘equivalent to 400%’. This was completely untrue, as the SCA payment is for checks performed BEFORE accepting a call. A crew cannot depart for the call and perform equipment checks at the same time.

Clearly, they are two separate time periods.
Over the course of two further Fair Work conferences, some facts were established:
1. St John are the beneficiaries of the work done pre-shift by employees to ready the vehicle and equipment.
2. The wording of clause 21 is clear and unambiguous.
3. The ‘trigger’ for the SCA is accepting and deploying to a call prior to the commencement of shift, or within the first 5 minutes.
4. Therefore, any argument that the SCA is not payable for calls accepted prior to shift is flawed.

After much further correspondence and continued efforts by the AEAWA executive, the Fair Work conferences have provided the means to resolve this dispute. The end result being that St John have agreed to comply with the wording of clause 21 Shift Commencement Checks. From this point onwards, please note *SCA on your timecard for ALL calls accepted BEFORE the start of shift, or within the first 5 minutes of shift commencement. You will be paid the SCA and any pre-shift overtime incurred from the point of deploying to the call.

At the last EBA, St John negotiators and their lawyers agreed to the introduction of a new clause and the SCA allowance.

The clause was intended to compensate employees for time spent performing a growing list of mandatory checks. The checks are required by the employer and are essential for the safe delivery of care. Despite this, it is our view that there was never an intention to pay this allowance for calls attended pre-shift, and the matter of unpaid work would continue for further decades.

In raising this dispute, the AEAWA have corrected this situation. As always, we will fight to ensure our members are paid what they are rightfully owed.

Being run by ambos, for ambos, the AEAWA tackle the issues that other unions fail to understand, or choose to ignore.

General Business

Mould In Bunbury Station
Bunbury staff have been complaining about mould throughout the Station, particularly within the storeroom. This has been raised with Country Management numerous times to no avail. An officer recently became ill and had a reaction to an unknown substance.

Basically, the acceptable healthy range for the mould was exceeded by hundreds of times.

Of another concern was the managerial response to this mould, by emailing officers in the area to wear PPE whilst being around it, just be careful. The AEAWA believe this is a shocking response and have advised staff not to enter any area deemed unsafe. Further information will be provided shortly.

For any upcoming microbiologists or mycologists out there, they found the following.
1. Alteraria see here
2. Aspergillis/Penicillum seen here, and
3. Cladosporium seen here

Overtime in the Southwest
Recently the organisation discussed staffing and overtime at East Bunbury Depot were a total of over $20,000 per month is currently being spent on overtime. This led St John to discuss the potentiality of placing tow more Paramedics there. This has now been changed to two extra Paramedics on relief per roster in the area.

AEAWA Building and Staff
The AEAWA are currently working with a property manager to look for an office space within the metropolitan area. There are numerous plans for the AEAWA to grow as an organisation, and the Executive Committee believe this will be accepted very well by the troops.

It will be a place to hold meetings, and the AEAWA (once the Paramedic EBA negotiations have concluded), will be looking at office personnel to assist. More information to follow.

AEAWA Merchandise
Soon all members will be able to gain access to the AEAWA shop. The committee has been looking for AEAWA merchandise, as many members have requested such items from the AEAWA.

Next Meeting
Wednesday 1st May, 2024 from 08:30 – 10:30.

Meeting Concluded
14:30.

Meeting Chaired By
Brody Munyard.

Meeting Conducted
14:00 -16:00.

Committee Attendees
Lee Waller, Jon Noble, and Karen Gerristen.

Committee Apologies
John Thomas, Mike Hardwick, Dave Higgins, Samantah Wright, Anne Breide and Amanda Howell.

SJA Attendees
Carly Rees, Brody Munyard, Stephanie Freemantle, and Kate Lawrence.

St John Agenda Items

EBA
Ambulance Transport Officers have voted in favour for the Patient Transport Services Agreement.
• Of the eligible 365 employees, 260 employee votes were cast.
• 85.8% voted “Yes” to the Agreement (223 votes)
• 14.2% voted “No” to the Agreement (37 votes)

The Agreement will be sent to Fair Work for approval. Usually they are approved within 21-days, however if there are any amendments required this could delay the process. If that occurs communication to members contained within the Patient Transport Services Agreement will occur.

Workload
There was a total of 324 transport jobs performed last month and St John are actively promoting the service to acquire more business. St John stated that weekends are becoming quieter, but there is still business potential they could work towards.

The PATCH Program
The program has been extended to north metro (QE2), and FSH will be on-line in four weeks in the south metro region. Currently, St John are waiting to see the Serco contract to understand how this will work.

Transport Team Leaders
The feedback so far is that the new Teams Leaders are working well and appear very invested in the role. They have met with a large section of the workforce across the metropolitan area and so far the program has been accepted very well.

Transformation Project
Further information regarding the Transformation Project will be provided to all officers over the coming weeks.

Certificate III in Non-Emergency Transport
Finally, after a long time of ‘requesting’, Ambulance Transport Officers can now gain access to this qualification. St John had ten officers involved in the pilot, and they will be issues with their certificates in the coming weeks.

Clinical Education are currently looking at the program, in essence, how can they place the extra training into the annual CEP. There is current talks happening around the costs of gaining the First Aid qualification required for the qualification. At this point St John want employees to pay for it.

Basically, watch this space to see what happens.

AEAWA Items

AmbiCad Response for Overtime/Shift Extension
Many members do not like the process of continually calling comms to state they have to knock off on time. At numerous JCCs the discussion of an AmbiCad function has been discussed with a simple ‘Yes’, ‘No’ response to would you like to do OT.

This has been briefly discussed; however, it appears to be a long way from being implemented. St John appear to be more invested in employees phoning the call centre daily to state you do not want to do overtime…. Most likely so you are recorded saying it.

Members want to know the St John definition of what reasonable overtime is. Dependent on what manager is asked, to what dispatcher is asked, you get multiple answers.

Basically, there isn’t a definition, and yes there needs to be one. This is the current issue. The AEAWA stated that the organisation needs to get employees home on time, and just because a job is there, with no one available to do it, is a factor that happens in this organisation every day.

The fact there few resources rests on the organisation, not the employee. If St John cannot get to calls, its clear they need to utilise there resources better, or get more.

The AEAWA also stated that certain crews feel pressured to do these calls and acquiring long shift extensions, it is not just a simple ‘can you do the job’, with a ‘yes’, ‘no’ answer and that’s it.

During the conversation, St John stated they will audit calls were employees feel like they ae being forced into doing overtime.

Allocation of Country Calls to 4×4 Crews
Many members have raised concerns with the allocation of country calls. On the 4×4 roster one crew was given Geraldton day 1, day 2 was Albany, day 3 was a Wheatbelt call. This leads to concerns of fatigue, and again the issue of sharing these calls across the fleet.

St John will look at this and try to formulate a system where officers are not required to travel excessively, and where possible those calls will be spread across the fleet. St John have admitted that some transfers can be extremely dangerous, and they are reviewing this.

Reasonable Overtime
Each officer, dispatcher and manager have a different perception of what is reasonable. Members would like to know what St John think is ‘reasonable’. There is also a need to discuss accumulative overtime across the fortnight. Geraldton crews are often allocated out of town transfers between Kalbarri, Northampton, Three Springs, Morawa, Mullewa, Dongara, and Jurien Bay, often receiving these calls a few hours before their shift ends.

St John are currently reviewing long and consistent transfers across these regions and will return soon.

The New 4×4 Roster
The addition off the 4×4 ATO crews out of Kwinana, Shenton Park and Osbourne Park has seen the closure of Kwinana 71, Shenton Park 71, and Osbourne Park 73. Members have had their name down on the depot request system for these closed shifts for a long time and would like clarification as to what is going to happen now, they have been converted to 4×4 shifts.

For example, will the officers on the list for the Mon-Fri vans that have been closed be offered to take that shift permanent? Or will the officers currently rostered onto it be offered it first?

St John are looking to introduced more of these shifts so they stated they would like to get it right. Those on the lists will stay, and no officer will be disadvantaged. St John stated that all officers on those lists declined the position.

The Cancelation of Weekend Shifts
The recent email sent to employees over the cancelation of weekend shifts has left numerous officers not happy, including the AEAWA. Your committee raised some questions to St John in order to reduce this happening again.

The issue was the email sent out to employees, stating due to low workloads there would be no WATOs rostered over the Easter weekend period. Part-timers read this email, and as it only addressed ‘casuals’ many still went to work.

As employees working these shifts would have been on a higher rate of pay, and St John did not want to pay that, they pulled all of the shifts from the permanent part-time officers.

Many did not know this until the night before, and some were not contacted at all and went to work.

Other areas in the business are given the option to work, of have that day off as a public holiday day. However, in this case, they weren’t even told.

The AEAWA asked St John to pay those officers that arrived to work and were sent home. St John will review this. If you are a part-timer who had no notification, arriving at work on the Easter Saturday or Sunday, and were sent home, please email [email protected].

FSH Directive for Transport Crews.
Crews have been told they need to be apart for extended periods due to the FSH new handover process. The driver and the patient are required to stay in one area whilst the attendant does the handover and prints all of the documentation. This often takes up to 30-minutes and is causing concern amongst the membership.

The AEAWA would like St John to talk to FSH and ask for a process of what a crew should do if they require both officers to remain with the patient. This way at least we have a system in place to protect officers.

St John will raise a Clinical Risk with FSH and will advise of the outcome. Whilst we wait for that, the AEAWA would like all officers, who believe two officers need to remain with the patient at all times to do the following.
1. Call FSH and advise them that both officers need to remain with they patient, so can the handover be done over the phone, and can the paperwork be organised by them.
2. Call PTS Comms and advise them of the delay.
3. If you are asked to just do the job, ensure you are on a recorded line, stating that officers should remain with the patient due to ‘X’, ‘Y’, ‘Z’. This way you have stated your concerns.

Shifts Available
Members are stating in the country some regional managers are giving overtime shifts to just casuals whilst others are giving them to full timers only. What is the policy, and why is there disparity across the regions.

A policy will be implemented for further transparency as even St John release the dishing out of over time shifts is not a clear process. This document will be provided over the coming weeks for review.

Roster System
As of the next roster, a new system will be implemented that is easy use for all PTS employees. Training will occur later this week with PTS managers on using the new platform. Its an upgrade to the roster, which is a simplified version; were all excel spreadsheets are incorporated into a single sheet.

Wheelchair Vehicle Update
The new vehicles are not ready yet. The were pushed to the side due to the Extended Care Paramedic (ECP) vehicles that were required to be placed into service. They are, however, the next vehicles to be placed into the fleet. Further updates will be sent out shortly.

Wheelchair Vehicle Tinting
Members have asked for the vehicles to be tinted. Privacy tinting should be placed on these vehicles, as they get extremely hot. St John will look into this and will advise of that answer shortly.

Kalgoorlie Job Description
Members have raised concern regarding the detail in the description. Basically, it states that if you are a mentor, you may be ineligible to apply for the position. The AEAWA believe that this is discriminatory and leads to a culture of officers removing themselves from the tutor list, so they can apply for country positions.

St John agreed, and stated further positions should not be advertised as such. The AEAWA will monitor future applications to ensure they are transparent.

Meeting Closed
16:00.

Next Meeting
TBA

 

Meeting Chaired By
Austin Whiteside.

Meeting Conducted
13:30 -14:30.

Committee Attendees
John Thomas, Lee Waller, Kam Phagura, Monique Hahn, and Nick Willis.

Committee Apologies
Mike Hardwick and Dave Higgins.

SJA Attendees
Austin Whiteside, Deb Strachan, Carly Rees, and Coco Audry-Davies.

St John Agenda Items

SOC General Updates
St John have just completed talks for the EBA across all shifts. A brief explanation of what was negotiated was provided to all employees, and the discussion of what happens next.

A March update has been completed for staff to see, regarding calls, staffing etc. SOC Employees received the general update via email.

Headset / Equipment Updates
There are no updates for this section. Currently they have the best equipment and handsets on the market. This item will be removed from the agenda items for the next JCCs, however, if there are any further issues, or better devices become available, the AEAWA will re-raise the issue.

Technology / Systems / CAD Updates
ProQA version 14 has been active since July last year, there was an external cyber incident involving the program, so the new package and update was delayed. Currently the Shift Development officers SDO are preparing to implement the training package for next month (April 2024).

Mapping
There have been some issues when the scene is plotted by the call-taker, which causes the responding crews to ‘79’ at an incorrect location. Certain scenes where this occurs (between 2-depots), often leads to delayed response times, and frustration as crews try to find the scene.

To rectify this, an LMS package will be provided to all staff at the SOC and Wangara HUB, to correctly plot locations. St John are currently seeing why this has become an issue.

The AEAWA raised that the mapping is lagging. Crews often find themselves ahead of the mapping, meaning they drive past a turnoff before it updates, leading to unnecessary u-turns.

The AEAWA will write to St John formally to raise this issue.

Triple 0 Overflow
Our ANC members often find themselves taking multiple triple-0 calls, whilst trying to perform their role. This leads to frustration and a delay in assigning crews to specific destinations.

This has been brought to St Johns attention on multiple occasions. The ANCs have asked in the past to be removed from the triple-0 overflow, however, St John today reiterated that they wish to keep the status quo.

The AEAWA raised the new Extra Duties Officer could assist the ANC’s during high demand times. St John will look into this.

HEPA Filter Fan
St John wanted to remind all employees that the filters are required to stay on, to ensure maximum performance of the filters. Apparently, the filters make the room colder, and employees have been switching it off.

Mentoring / Training Country Dispatch
Country Dispatchers are logged into the phone now, so when the RTM or Dispatcher are busy, the Country Support Officers will be able to assist. As call volume increases, without the increase in staffing levels, our SOC and Wangara HUB members will find these stop gap measures, will start to fail, and we will once again see issues in answering community triple-0 calls.

AEAWA Agenda Items

Current Workload for ANCs
There is discussion within the room with the workloads currently being placed on the ANCs who are now taking even more triple-0 overflow calls. Discussion needs to occur around this, and the plan when the second EDO comes online.

The overflow initially is to the Extra Duties Officer, then the Country Support Officer then to the Ambulance Network Coordinator. St John believes that this will assist in the number of calls the ANCs are taking.

Audits
In January 2024, St John stated auditing would be performed by peers and not employees who have not performed the role. The AEAWA were surprised to learn that today the status of this new implementation has dwindled.

St John currently can not commit to a timeframe of when this will occur but have stated that the Shift Development Officers will eventually take on this roll. The AEAWA reiterated that nowhere else in the organisation are audits performed by individuals that have not, cannot, or do not understand the role.

Extra SDOs are now performing some of the audits, but as yet, this is not going to replace the current system.

Mapping
Many of the mapping jobs are being plotted to the wrong locations, and there are not enough details coming through. The AEAW believe it benefit to add a drop-down menu located on the screen so employees can click what issue has occurred.

This will capture the data on the issues, is it a system error etc. These errors can then be reviewed, and the data obtained should be able to make change and reduce these errors over time. This was raised previously, just checking on the status of this?

St John are still assessing this as a potentially viable option, and will return with an answer.

AmbiCad Updating
SOC members are being contacted by crews on route to scene having constant AmbiCad updates with no information on the card. Can this be rectified, and what is the process?

This issue has been rectified for single responder vehicles, and if helpful it should be rolled out to the fleet.

The AEAWA stated this is particularly troublesome for Priority drives in both the metropolitan and country areas, especially for 101 calls, where the many, many, many, many mangers working in the room look at the card to see if the chopper is required.

Every time the card is opened it sends the crew an AmbiCad update, which is ridiculous and dangerous.

Employee Overtime
SJA acknowledge the pressures both staff within the room and at the rosters department are under. Overtime texts are ad hoc, with some officers never receiving them. To alleviate this pressure St John were looking to pilot an App based system where people can see what OT is available and for what position. What is the status of the App?

St John stated the app was unfeasible, and that it would create some issues. The AEAWA raised WhatsApp, as the entire Country runs on this App. St John want all the fleet to be on the same platform, which is clearly what is causing the delay.

The AEAWA believe this is clearly viewed by St Johns as being too hard, so we are left with the current ad hoc texting system until something better, or gains St Johns interest comes along.

Delegate Releases
It is often hard for St John to release delegates for JCCs and new student talks at the college. The AEAWA would like this process streamlined to ensure delegates attend these important meetings.

The AEAWA send delegate release emails, and often hear nothing back. This leads to Managers is SOC being contacted for a P8-Cards, and no one knows what is going on, which often leads Delegates to attend the meeting late or not at all.

St John admitted there is a gap and sometimes SOC staff are not aware that a delegate needs to be released. The process is being reviewed, and further releases will be addressed.

Safety Concerns for Staff
Ongoing issues with security. There have been some security breaches in the carpark, with members of the public walking around the building, and even a domestic violence case occurring next to the basement security gate. Also, the public can see into the building, which employees do not like.

St John will investigate this. A risk assessment has been performed and the architects are reviewing this. Further information will be provided shortly.

As the meeting concluded early, St John asked if there were any other issues, or any suggestions for the ground floor re-development.

Deep Clean
Members were concerned that after the SOC ‘deep clean’ that there was still dust in the room, and that the areas are not as clean as what they would expect.

St John stated that it isn’t actually a ‘deep clean’ as what people think, it is just a deep clean of the carpet. They will not go near cables, tables, desks, or PCs etc. St John will email Property to see how a whole room clean be achieved.

Ground Floor
Requests for a crèche and a gym were explored. St John stated that all suggestions should be sent to Deb Strachan, as there is a lot of space available, and that all options would be explored.

Meeting Closed
14:30

Next Meeting
June 2024

Meeting Chaired by
Joel Moore

Meeting Conducted
1300 = 15:00

Committee Attendees
Callan McClure

Committee Apologies
John Thomas, Mike Hardwick, Lee Waller, David Higgins & Conrad Fairhead

SJA Attendees
Joel Moore, Naomi Powell, Kelly guest, Stephanie Wraight, Ben Mann, Rebecca Boughton, James Webb, Carole Donaldson, Julie Comito, Debbie Strachan, Drew Mckibbin, Carl Vine

Safety Share (Ben Mann)
The data presented is from March 2023 – February 2024
– 386 incidents
– 67 injuries
– 54% of those were drug and alcohol related
– 39% of all calls were ‘code black’

11% of these incidents took place where location warnings were present. 94% of staff conducted a visual risk assessment prior to incidents, 46% state no counselling offered. SJA justified this as counselling contacting staff after incidents. 75% staff state this is the first time they have experienced this. 90% staff state they have easy access to duress alarms. Violence and aggression has increased in 12 months “due to an increase in reporting”. Form will be amended to include did WAPOL refuse to attend. SJA to include drugs and alcohol with cognitive impairment to include dementia patients.

The AEAWA are concerned that such a low number of officers are being offered counselling regardless of timeframe. The number of these incidents is alarming and the AEAWA will monitor closely to ensure all possible steps take place to reduce these incidents.

CAD Warning review (Courtney Parker)
When WAPOL requested, SJA shared CAD warnings. WAPOL. Verified warnings and all non verified warnings were removed. Full audit performed of country and metro, based on CAD, ePCR and general information. CAD warning system framework for auditing moving forward with normal review.

WAPOL most likely to attend verified warnings across both systems. WAPOL review CAD warnings post incident but will not share with SJA. SJA provided names and address but not information relating to warning. WAPOL not attending based on historical risk unless there is a current risk. The AEAWA will continue to support members who don’t feel safe to call for WAPOl attendance.

WAPOL Attendance (Courtney Parker)
WAPOL shared their assessment draft guidelines with SJA, not shared with meeting as still in draft. Requests based only on a CAD alert with nil other information will likely result in decline of WAPOL attendance, may not apply to pts with WAPOL warnings. CODE Black response the same. Aged care and elderly patients subject to more scrutiny, WAPOL wish all avenues be exhausted prior to attendance. WAPOL recognise difference between community versus RACF.

Where there is a risk that isn’t related to mental health or drugs and alcohol , WAPOL have stated they won’t attend. Currently grey area as WAPOL have nil powers to intervene. SJA working with DOH, WAPOL and SSO to investigate.

Kelly Guest concerned about moral injury to officers due to patient deterioration waiting for WAPOL attendance. Carole Donaldson states DV training about to be rolled out, DV warnings will be added to CAD. Carole asked if WAPOL will share information, SJA unsure. AEAWA raised nil ambulance attendance until WAPOL attendance as these jobs present a known risk. WAPOL dispatching SJA and not attending SJA are aware and unsure how to proceed at this time. Review of request for forced entry resulting in DFES Attendance for non urgent cases. WAPOL advised they will not attend health only incidents at schools.
AEAWA raised prevalence of screen barriers (crimsafe) in any procedure formulation as SJA do not carry appropriate tools.

IR 12850 Summary and Recommendations (Stephanie Wraight)
Incident in RACF where WAPOL refused to attend. SJA want to create a quantifiable risk assessment to best communicate risk to WAPOL. SJA wish this to be in the hands of the crew but also POC liaison, for them to assist completion in events where crew is cognitively overloaded. Crew escalated to WAPOl instead of calling a code black. SJA concerned about hesitancy to call code black and SJA believe it may have prevented the injuries.

SJA panel looking at on going violence and aggression, rollout of dementia training and cognitive impairment. SJA will be reviewing procedure for restraint for purposes of sedation within SJWA, currently this is limited due to legislation. Difficulty in getting WAPOL attendance to these patients due to them being deemed inherently medical by WAPOl. Refresher V&A training will be rolled out to SJA trainers by ProComm who will provide V&A refresher training to the work force. SJA shared images of risk assessments showing that any “red/3” will require WAPOL attendance. Document has not gotten WAPOL endorsement. SJA would expect call takers score this form on the phone and crew score on scene. SJA believe it should be the call taker flagging WAPOL required.

SJA wish this process to be implemented and fine tuned live rather that implementing a “perfect process” in 3 months or so. SJA will give 7 days to get feedback, then take it to WAPOL. If all parties are happy, they will share it with the workforce and formal training.

AEAWA mindful of comms staff being over worked with staffing concerns in the room. AEAWA want the best process possible however with consideration of pressure being placed on communication officers.

Camera & Vest Trial Update (Drew Mckibbin)
SJA discussing with trial participants and internal stakeholders to get results by April. SJA looking at AXON 4 with duress, live stream and push to talk. Metro has approx 60+ paramedics wearing them, no popular uptake in vests. AEAWA have never supported the adoption of body worn cameras and will continue to stand by this decision.

Hospital Concerns (Drew Mckibbin)
Safety spoke with RPH safety manager about duress alarms, they are also investigating improving lighting and CCTV on lord street/Victoria square.SJA raised officers sometimes go outside with MH pts for smoking in this area. AEAWA raised this as priority due to single responder vehicles being parked there.

General Business
Discussion touched on the reevaluation of Code Black procedure and whether P1 back up should be organised instead of the current P2. SJA unsure on are they “allowed” to do this under the exemptions provided to SJA under the road traffic act. They will review and represent at the next meeting.

SJA should take all possible steps to reduce the risk to members, but a plan is still required for when these incidents occur. It it there the opinion of the AEAWA that SJA have a plan on how to safely get members home when these incidents take place where all possible steps have been taken to prevent them. The AEAWA first raised this in the Violence and Aggression meeting on the 20th of June 2023.

Meeting concluded
1500

Next Meeting
TBA

 

Meeting Chaired By
Naomi Powell

Meeting Conducted
13:00

Committee Attendees
Callan McClure and Rik Candy.

Committee Apologies
John Thomas, Mike Hardwick, Lee Waller and Dave Higgins

SJA Attendees
Naomi Powell, Joel Moore, Julie Comito, Rebecca Boughton, Ben Mann, Drew Mckibbin, Olivia McCormack, Adele Bromwich, Grant Ledger, Ria Hardy, Monika Manalis, Chelsea Clinton Grace and Nick Loiacono.

Terms of reference
– Accessible on Connect
– Desired objectives of safety committee and responsibility. Accessible on connect. Any info relating to committee will be on teams channel.
– Drew Mckibbin wants SJA Health included for all of organisation inclusion, Naomi Powell and Joel Moore shot this down insisting on focusing on Emergency Stream.

AEAWA have stated numerous times all working groups should focus on staff they effect in order to keep them focused and on task.
– Chelsea Clinton-Grace wished to clarify the name of committee to better inform role of the committee.

Current projects

Slippery Sally Slide Sheet

• Implemented in Q4 2023, available on all Ambulances and PTVs. All on estock and budgeted. VDOs being trained on use to train country staff. Nil new data comparing injuries post implementation.
• Naomi Powell wishes to ensure accurate data to evaluate post implementation result. Ben Mann asked if size is an issue, Naomi Powell states nil issues reported.
• Chelsea Clinton-Grace states current size is ok or can be doubled up if required.
• A CP raised cost of $399 for box of 50. Requested they be ordered in less tock. Supply will investigate small quantity units.
• Chelsea Clinton-Grace states slide sheet should be used on every slide.
• Another CP raised training, Naomi Powell states been trained in CEP and will be included in volunteer education. Chelsea Clinton-Grace reiterated VDOs being trained.

Transfer Belts

• Commenced trial December 2023 concluding March 2024. Trial in metro and country.
• Incident reports have identified that injury an officer sustained would have been prevent by transfer belt.
• Feedback positive to date, IR incident and safety projection enable business case was approved early week commencing 19/02/2024.
• Supply are currently organising an order. Nil delay expected from warehouse to operations.
• One per ambulance, will sent out by logistics of as per country estock list. Full rollout expected to commence March/April.
• Drew Mckibbin raised WPI and IPC, Naomi Powell stated approved as per clinical improvement. Chelsea Clinton-Grace states this equipment has been procured due to injuries from current SOP of using a sheet.
• Transfer belt has a safe working limit of 159Kg.
• Chelsea Clinton-Grace stated concern raised by plastic material, states sheet on towel should be placed between plastic and pt to avoid skin damage from plastic.

AEAWA are supportive of any initiative minimising member injuries so long as it is appropriately trained to members such as the slide sheet and transfer belt in CEP Day 3. AEAWA will monitor injury rates among members from both of these initiatives.

Stryker rollout

• 116 vehicles currently equiped. 24 vehicles remaining. All vehicles will be Stryker equiped by august. 4 additional have been rolled out since JCC.
• SJWA Executive has approved fleet spares to be Stryker. 24 metro vehicles, 17 metro spares, (41 total).
• As of 20/02/2024 there are 37 remaining Strykers in metro. AEAWA has reiterated the high priority of this initiative at multiple meetings for over 12 months and will
  continue to do so until Ferno 50E has been entirely replaced.
• Post metro role out country career locations will be prioritised.
• Darren Ginnane provides update on Strykers. 5 new builds a month. All MK 6.0 gone in next couple months. All country replacements will be Stryker from get go to reduce transport costs. Darren Ginnane states second hand builds with Stryker will be rolled out quicker than brand new builds to country.
• St John working with external contractors to increase vehicle production.
• Carl Vine raised south metro locations being investigated for Stryker concentration. Kelmsoctt has approx 80% Ferno 50E. Naomi Powell states 1 for 1 replacement, but
  when vehicles are damaged or go for maintenance that creates issues.
• 15 Strykers currently off with crash repairs and routine maintenance. Permanent being prioritised over swap vehicles. Nil visibility of country and PTS vehicles by metro management.

Ferno Transcend

• Can carry up to 250kg and can go up and down. Will be on both new CPATs and will be interchangeable. Electorally powered and operated by button on ascending and descending. Physically pushed when used as a wheelchair. Battery is Milwaukie and interchangeable with Stryker stretcher.
• 4x easy glide (red stair chairs) located at JOO, KWI, CEN & KEL being replaced. SWL of transcend is 250kg. Limitation of not being pushed further than metro.
• Carl Vine raised CPAT training and familiarisation training for CEP or is it Paramedic Intern induction exclusive. Naomi Powell unable to provide definitive answer, CPAT
  training is standard in PI training and it may be reviewed for CEP, nil comment from CPHC representative Nick Loiacono.
• Joel Moore states original plan is to bring online new CPAT, train a core group by PTOs and PSOs plus EOI of APs for their use. Expand to metro post second vehicle arriving.
  Naomi Powell states training of equipment on early rollout will prioritise key staff. (ORMs, CSPs and HSRs) Joel Moore wishes to have permanent CPAT staffing.

CPAT Update

• CPAT has completed and passed break testing. Awaiting Engineer repot before being able to get GVM approved by DOT followed by pits for registration. Vehicle back with
  Paull & Warner and power being installed for charging of equipment as well as equipment stowage. Nil timeline yet. Nil DOT sign off. CPAT committee will performed WPI and risk assessment once received.
• SJA Management applying pressure to PW to deliver. Carl Vine raised tail lift weight sticker. Joel Moore states it’s an sticker error and tail lift manufacturer has confirmed
  it’s got an appropriate SWL for SJA needs. Naomi Powell asked for committee members to volunteer to assist with WPIs and risk assessments.
• The AEAWA have been working hard across multiple working groups to ensure the proper and prompt introduction of this new vehicle. Due to the long lifespan of these assets AEAWA have from the start reiterated the importance to get this vehicle right.

Upcoming projects.

Patient movement straps

• RA and WPI commenced Friday 23rd February. To be rolled out April-June post success business case. Item will be rolled out to metro medics and paramedics and country. Same strap as carry canvas.
• Straps will be stored with transfer belt and carry canvas. Not a high-cost turnover item so Naomi Powell states optimistic about implementation. Approx 6 months of work. Noami Powell again asking for volunteers. Chelsea Clinton-Grace states 2x straps to allow carry canvas to be moved laterally on the floor instead of lifting.
• Chelsea Clinton-Grace states can be used in conjunction with stair chair to assist.
• More progress expected by next meeting.

Elk on a shelf

• SJWA name for ambulances modified to have an ELK onboard.
• Proposal for ELK equiped vehicles at 3x metropolitan and 2x country stations for April-June of this year. Business case approved awaiting Darren Ginnane for
  assistance with costing.
• Proposed loss of linen bag, requiring rejigging of layout guide. Trickle charger will be added as a lesson learned from Ambulance Victoria. Trickle charger will help avoid
  failure. Extension cords will be provided. Business case for stability poles, vehicle retrofit and all required changes.
• This must be trialed due high LTIs in the ORM group. Common cause being pt assessment, Clinical Services working on assessment tool for suitable patients and
  review of layout guide. RA and WPI being reviewed for 2 person operation. Expanding use of equipment being explored as Ambulance Victoria use it for spinal boards and scoop stretchers. SJWA will explore.
• Nominated station will result in all vehicles being changed. IRs will be monitored to monitor for staff injuries, if they increase trial will be suspended. If injuries reduced SJA will conclude trial early. Currently in early stages of planning.
• Stations will be selected to better facilitate training. Current stations looking at Metropolitan Southwest due to reduced staff resources. SEC, ROC, MAN from Metro and EBU and BUN from Country, most likely as they have the least officer movement.
• Drew Mckibbin proposed train the trainer, Naomi Powell shot this down. Insisting on formal SME training. AEAWA are supportive of formal training by subject matter experts to minimise staff injury and increase officer competency of equipment.
• Area managers will be trained in district for staff support.
• This project will be looking at existing vehicles. Naomi Powell clarified this will not be involving design of new ambulance. No word of new ambulance design.
• On site training rather than Belmont will occur in metro and country.
• Proposed linen be placed in rear draw. AEAWA raised short term storage in middle console but stated long term storage required full review of layout guide with appropriate consultation. AEAWA raised SAAS model of dedicated manual handling trainers separate to clinical education. Naomi Powell states all manual handling training must change.
• AEAWA will monitor this project closely to ensure all appropriate consultation occurs and officer safety is not compromised. AEAWA will ensure short term concessions for
  trials are not adopted indefinitely.

Manual handling statistics

• Ben Mann Presenting. States some statistics are alarming but hopefully this will show future changes. Back strain main issue highlighted by Safety.
• Total Injuries for 2021, 198 officers
• Total Injuries for 2022, 280 officers
• Total Injuries for 2023, 304 officers
• Injuries to date for 2024, 46 officers
• LTIs are decreasing. Ben Man states slide sheets will help reduce LTIs due to majority being caused by slides.
• Joel Moore states 200 more people working this time year on year and 7% more jobs. Due to this it’s technically an improvement whilst not being good enough. Joel Moore states by end of year another 200 people working in addition but stated we are just meeting demand.
• Injury states presented, largest area is carrying people and equipment.
• Ben Mann states all stats available on request. Current projects targeting areas of concerns.
• Ben Mann showed committee the OHS dashboard. Only available to safety and management due to raw data no collated or assessed. Naomi Powell states sub committee will get a session on OHS dashboard and states it’s the first version of dashboard and might require improvement.
• AEAWA believe every officer deserves to come home from work uninjured. It is the opinion of the AEAWA that arguing increasing injuries due to increasing staff is simply unacceptable. The AEAWA will monitor to ensure a downwards trajectory on total injuries is emphasised.

 

Year in priority

• CPATs rollout highest priority for SJWA for safety, to provide new equipment for safer bariatric patient handling and operational reliability.
• Second priority is Stryker rollout. Large workload for fleet and management. Target completion of August for metropolitan rollout.
• Lifting belt and straps hoped to be completely rolled out by April-June. April-June will be elk trial. SJA will be closely monitoring injury states post elk trial.
• Drew Mckibbin raised lifting teams, not successful according to Naomi. Clinical Services requested lifting team be reviewed for inclusion in ECP and fall team.
• SJA want manual handling training and upkeep of training to be informed by working group and statistics.
• SJA states sub committee needs achievable and smart goals. After an item has been approved the college develop tearing and any short falls require identification and
  feedback to sub committee and include CPHC.
• Proposal for manual handling trading for CEP 25 due to 24 being full. Drew Mckibbin raised new CPAT and states PTS not satisfied with suitability of new stretcher.
• SJA raised lack of available commercial options, 1 option. Joel Moore stated companies aren’t interested which limits options short of SJA prototyping their own.
• AEAWA are supportive of a focused approach on achieving capabilities to reduce injury rates of members and will keep SJA accountable.

NETS Update

• PCH looking at replacing mansell stretcher, with a Stryker base and power load which will have same controls as current Stryker equipped ambulances. For country it may be skydeck clip deck, looks similar. Reliant on RFDS changing lifter. Will require a handle release on Strykers.
• Unable to provide images due to commercial in confidence nature of images supplied.
• AEAWA supportive of plan to standardise to Stryker as it will provide greater confidence amongst members when using equipment.

Wrapping up

• All attendees shown teams and connect page.
• Volunteers required for workload of RAs and WPIs. Agendas will be sent out weeks in advance of meetings in future.
• AEAWA are supportive of short-term modification to layout guide for helmets for ELK trial only. This is to ensure manual handling equipment for officers is prioritised.

Meeting Closed
15:05

Next Meeting
TBA

 

Meeting Chaired By
Joel Moore.

Meeting Conducted
12:30 – 15:30

Committee Attendees
Dave Higgins and Callan McClure.

Committee Apologies
John Thomas, Mike Hardwick, Lee Waller, Conrad Fairhead and Jesse George.

SJA Attendees
Joel Moore, Naomi Powell, Stephanie Wraight, Karen Stewart, Simone Hughes, Clay McCarthy, Grant Ledger, Drew Mckibbin, Carly Rees, Liane Tuck, and Stephanie Freemantle

St John Agenda Items

Metropolitan Property Update
– St John is currently acquiring or working to acquire land in areas highlighted by population heat maps as in demand.
– Sites in Baldivis and Southern River are of particular priority to SJA
– SJA have identified Anketell, Southern River and Bibra Lake as future locations
– SJA investigating stations with potential capacity by moving PTS and EHS out to expand Metro Ambulance resources.
– Locations being reviewed for security gate and CCTV instillation.

Country BCP Levels
– SJA stated Northwest BCP currently at Level 3 all other regions at “Business as Usual” (BAU)
– SJA stated they are now able to increased and decreased BCP in response to local factors such as call volume and volunteer numbers.
– The AEAWA are concerned with SJA using a Business continuity Plan which is designed for response to crisis as a way to manage low volunteers numbers and negligent investment in Country Ambulance.

Salary Sacrifice Provider Update
– St John will begin the process of creating a tender for potential salary sacrifice providers to compete with Maxxia.
– This process has been long and drawn out and SJAs reason has been due to investigating “contractual issues”.
– Employees “may” see an announcement soon

Metro Ambulance – General Updates
– 5 New Direct entry schools this year, each with 20 paramedics
– Case volume was up in December, still managed to increase our SBC to meet the demand.
– Yearly average Stand by capacity is 38.4% and case volume is currently tracking higher tan tis time last year.
– P1 performance – 86%
– P2 performance – 79%
– P3 performance – 80%

Country Ambulance – General Updates
– Finalising recent country recruitment
– SJA meeting with DOH to discuss alternative initiatives for some locations including additional staff.
– Harvey and Margaret River are now BAU as of end of February.

Ramping & Shift Extension – General Updates
– SJAs main driver for the change is the Fatigue Prevention Officers, they expect to continue to see it trending downwards as the FPOs become more experienced.
– 224 – stable over last month, 250 hours a week
– 4×4 – increasing downward trend, 100 hours a week
– Night shift – since December, dropped by 50 hours a week.

Ambulance Officer / Paramedic Safety – General Updates
– Priority is getting CPAT replacement operational.
– Professing business case of “Elk on a Shelf”, equipping ambulances with ELKs to improve manual handling capabilities. Currently no timeline on Elk.
– Lifting belts signed off by BBH.

Radio Network
– SJA ran a workshop with consultancy, operations, fleet and workshops
– SJA fine tuning documentation to put to market approx May/June.
– SJA will be evaluating by Q3.

Roster Project
– More Gaps identified by SJA, they will increase spending and have a working product by March 3.

Leave Department
– Throughout December there was 570 requests, and SJA are now looking at 270 requests.
– Significant growth in leave requests per employee.
– 2 new staff starting in the next 2 weeks which will assist in turnaround of time frames moving forward.

Stryker Rollout
– Currently 41 Ferno 50E equipped vehicles remaining in the metro region. 24 permanent vehicles and 17 metro spare/workshop vehicles used to facilitate swaps for regular servicing.
– Priority will be permanent station vehicles followed by workshop fleet.
– Target for complete Stryker fleet by August this year dependant on vehicle crashs.
– AEAWA are following this issue closely after 12 months of pressure. SJA reminded SJA a timeline of completion by 2023 was previously set and will hold the organisation accountable for an August timeline.

Special Leave Operation
– SJA clarified that special leave works on a number of positions for day shift and night shift with day vans being included in the shift being worked by their respective colours. In effect late day van Special leave is counted as a night shift spot.
– AEAWA suggested they be separate, SJA will take on board.

Spare Officers
– AEAWA raised members receiving late notice notifications of change of start time and station location. AEAWA stated contacting someone at 1600 to tell them they’re now a 1900 is unacceptable and

Intranet Site Performance
– SJA raised the performance of the connect intranet site. Particularly the multiple times it requires to reload in order to be used.
– SJA were unaware of this and stated no an issue.
– AEAWA loaded connect and it reloaded 5 times before it could be used.
– SJA will investigate.

Meeting Closed
15:30

Next Meeting
TBA

 

Meeting Chaired By
Brody Munyard

Meeting Conducted
10:30-12:43.

Committee Attendees
Mike Hardwick, Lee Waller and Jon Noble.

Committee Apologies
John Thomas and Karen Gerristen

SJA Attendees
Brody Munyard, Tony Fitzgerald, Liane Tuck, Freyja Petursson and Stephanie Freemantle.

St John Agenda Items

Call Distribution
There have been 73,000 patients transported in the previous 12-months and 313 were transported on 12 January 2024 alone. There is lots of competitors in the market for transfers and St John are trying to claw some of these transfers back.

The AEAWA had previously asked for a ‘heat map’ of the calls for Transport, citing that areas such as Lancelin/Jurien Bay have significantly increased the call volume of transport suitable patients over the past 18-months. The AEAWA wanted to see where the transport call volumes are predominantly located in comparison to the locations of the transport fleet.

St John again answered that they will provide the information as they don’t actually map the workload for transport locations and job volume.

Country Transfers EOIs
Members have asked for fairness and transparency regarding allocating crews for country transfers. Some officers are doing 2-3 a week, whilst other are nor being provided the opportunity.

The AEAWA have asked that a database be kept by St John in the interest of ‘sharing the love’ for crews that wish to do these types of country runs.

Initially St John stated this would be difficult to manager and the allocation considers numerous factors such as
• crew start and finishing times
• Stryker stretcher capability
• location of crew
• job planning for crews

St Johns are however happy to further discuss this.

PTS Crews at O’Connor Depot
St John stated that there is a not enough space at this time to locate a PTS crew, especially after the proposal for a Medic crew to be located there is gaining traction. Further reviews will occur shortly.

Closed Vans Data
St John will provide data at the next JCC.

Mentoring for Weekenders
Members who commence employment parttime (Saturday and Sunday roster), take longer to complete their mentoring shifts than those working full time. An issue occurred were some part timers were allowed to work on the weekdays to progress their tutoring time and others were told they are weekend only workers and were denied this.

Surprise surprise, yet another instance was one manager reads the Agreement or a policy and has a complete opposite interpretation than another manager. St John stated this should not have happened, the AEAWA stated we know, but it did, that’s why we are here to discuss it. This is why the AEAWA want to stop this occurring week in week out, by making these managers accountable for their decisions.

New Agenda Items

Baby Blankets
Members are stating they feel pressured to accepting calls where the Baby Blanket is required. St John have been advised by the AEAWA numerous times that this is a direct violation of the manufacturer’s warranty and use of the device.

This is causing numerous delays and stress to those officers pressured into doing the transfer. The AEAWA would like this issue finalised at this Transport JCC.

This has been discussed at the following JCCs without any answer from St John.
1. 4th October 2021,
2. 3rd May 2022,
3. 9th August 2022,
4. 20th February 2023, and
5. 13th September 2023.

Well some great news. Ther Ferno Baby Blanket. DO NOT USE IT. And St Johns have agreed. It still must stay in the vehicle, but you do not use that piece of equipment. Any member who feels pressured to use it, contact the AEAWA immediately.

AmbiCad Response for Overtime/Shift Extension
Many members do not like the process of continually calling comms to state they have to knock off on time. At numerous JCCs the discussion of an AmbiCad function has been discussed with a simple ‘Yes’, ‘No’ response to would you like to do OT.

Members want to know the St John definition of what reasonable overtime is. Dependent on what manager is asked, to what dispatcher is asked, you get multiple answers. Another question is, does St John under the ‘reasonable overtime’ rule take into account accumulated overtime? In essence an hour of overtime on one shift to some may sound reasonable, but if you are required do this on a daily basis, the membership believes it is not.

This has been discussed at the following JCCs without any answer from St John
1. 3rd May 2022, and
2. 9th August 2022.

This is still being reviewed by St John.

Modified 79 Times
Members have been contacting the AEAWA regarding their times being altered, specifically their ‘79’ times. On some occasions the arrival times have been wound back up to an hour. St John gave an undertaking that they would review this and provide an answer on why this was occurring.

This has been discussed at the following JCCs without any answer from St John.
1. 4th October 2021,
2. 9th August 2022, and
3. 20th February 2023.

St John again, will review this matter.

Certification Non-Emergency Transport
The AEAWA brought up numerous times members receiving this qualification. At each discussion St John have stated that employees will get this qualification. The project was given to someone who has left the organisation. The AEAWA would like to know the status of this. Are employees receiving this qualification, and if so, when?

This has been discussed at the following JCCs without any answer from St John.
1. 20th February 2023, and
2. 13th September 2023.

Work in the background is currently occurring and St John do have an appetite to see this qualification awarded to their transport fleet.

CPAT Staffing Pilot
St John added an agenda item for staffing the CPAT vehicle and were looking at staffing the CPAT permanently. The AEAWA would like to know the status of the pilot, and who is eligible to apply for the position. Will an EOI go out to all officers?

This has been discussed at the following JCCs without any answer from St John.
1. 20th February 2023.

The review is still occurring and information will be shared at upcoming JCCs.

Country Transfers
Members approached the AEAWA regarding the allocation of crews to do country transfers. Some officers appear to get 2-3 a week whilst others never get allocated one. Members would like to know what the process is when allocating crews to these calls.

The AEAWA suggested an EOI go out to all officers, get a list of those keen to do them, and were possible divide the transfers as best as you can. It’s not a hard thing to do. St John appeared to like this idea, and they will return to the table at the next JCC to discuss options. Currently, these calls are mainly given to Casuals over full time officers, which is strange as casuals cost more.

This has been discussed at the following JCCs without any answer from St John.
1. 13th September 2023

This again will be looked at.

The Transport 4×4 Roster
Members would like to know if the expression of interest for Ambulance Transport Officers to work the 4 on 4 off roster was on the intranet or was it emailed to all officers? Many are stating that only the chosen few were sent the email, and that not everyone had the fair right to apply for the position.

The fairness of applying for positions is something St John want to achieve. They would like the AEAWA to gain information regarding when these positions are being given to employees without being advertised.

St John will consider the EOI for the 4×4 roster and will provide further updates at upcoming JCCs.

Agenda Items Not Discussed
Vehicle Customisation
Baby Harness and Dual Stretchers
iPads for Casuals
Vehicle Maintenance and Service
ATOs and Priority 3 Jobs
Geographical Cover/Response – Melville and Kelmscott
Established ATOs
Senior ATOs Being Overlooked

Meeting Closed
11:05

Next Meeting
April 2024