St John - update on withdrawal of labour industrial actions

Tēnā koutou
 
Last week we communicated that St John had received notification from one of our three unions, that its members will be withdrawing labour from 6am on 25 November until 6am on 26 November. We have now received a further notification that this union’s members will be withdrawing labour for a second period from 6am on 28 November until 6am on 29 November – two periods of 24 hours.

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As noted, this union’s members represent about 40% of paid ambulance personnel nationally, and this action involves the full withdrawal of labour by members working in our Clinical Support, Ambulance Communications, Emergency Ambulance, Patient Transfer Services and Event Medical Services.
 
We can now confirm that the impact will be most noticeable in Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, and Canterbury. We have put plans in place, including rostering other ambulance staff to cover the strike action and undertaking additional clinical triage in the Ambulance Communications Centre. We anticipate this will mitigate much of the anticipated impact, however we will still need support to reduce demand on services through these periods.
 
We have developed specific advice for the most impacted stakeholders. Can you please support by cascading these to your medical facilities.
 

1. Public Safety Messages
   Public safety messages will be provided through mainstream print and broadcast media, social media and directly to St John customers at high risk, including the following key messages.

Some ambulance staff will be on strike from:

• 6am Wednesday 25 November until 6am Thursday 26 November (24 hours)
• 6am Saturday 28 November until 6am Sunday 29 November (24 hours)

During this time:

• Please only call 111 for an ambulance if it is a medical emergency
  • Examples of medical emergencies include chest pain, shortness of breath and major accidents.
  • Examples of non-life-threatening problems include minor abdominal pain, strains and sprains and earache.      
• St John continues to be there for you in a life-threatening emergency
• In non-life threatening cases, you may be called back by a paramedic or nurse who will ask you some additional questions and determine the best care for you. This may include health advice or referral to another health provider (such as a GP). If you require an ambulance, there may be delays in us getting to you.

Other messaging:

• The main areas affected are Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Canterbury
• In some cases, we may send a paramedic in a car to assess you, before determining whether ambulance transport is required. 

1. Primary care
   Please have a higher than usual threshold for requesting an ambulance response to your medical facility, ensuring that prior to calling an ambulance:

• It is clear that the patient requires transport to hospital by ambulance and that other forms of transport (for example, transport by taxi or a family member) have been considered. 
• If an ambulance response is required, the person requesting the ambulance has all of the required information (for example, patient name, NHI and provisional diagnosis) and uses the health professionals’ line on 0800 262 665 (not 111) to enable the call to be triaged by a clinician.

Please appreciate that due to the industrial action, there is likely to be delays in St John being able to respond an ambulance if the patient’s condition is not immediately life-threatening. 
 

1. Aged care
   Please have a higher than usual threshold for requesting an ambulance response to your aged care facility, ensuring that prior to calling an ambulance:

• It is clear that the patient requires transport to hospital by ambulance.
• If the patient has a non-urgent clinical problem, all efforts are made by aged care facility staff to liaise with clinicians in primary care (for example, an on-call GP and local DHB/PHO services such as catheter nurses or district nurses) and for the patient to be clinically managed within the aged care facility if possible.
• If an ambulance response is required, the staff member requesting the ambulance has all of the required information (for example, patient name, NHI and provisional diagnosis) and uses the health professionals’ line on 0800 262 665 (not 111) to enable the call to be triaged by a clinician.

Please appreciate that due to the industrial action, there is likely to be delays in St John being able to respond an ambulance to aged care facilities if the patient’s condition is not immediately life-threatening. 
 
We will continue to provide updates as new information is available. Please let me know if you need anything in the meantime.
 
Ngā mihi nui
 
Andrew
 
Andrew Mumford NDAP BSc MBA MNZIM
Communications Lead | People and Organisational Strategy

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