Ambulance Victoria remains committed to providing a safe, fair and inclusive culture for all our people.
While we've made significant progress in some areas, a progress evaluation undertaken last year by the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission shows the impact of those changes isn't being seen or felt universally.
More needs to be done and we are prioritising on getting the basics right.
For example, our people have told us how important flexibility is to them, and we recognise its critical role in improving workforce satisfaction, work/life balance, and retention.
A dedicated program is being established to improve our approach to flexible working, reduce fatigue and build on our work in roster reform for more sustainable and safer patterns of work.
Other initiatives underway to improve employee experience and patient care include upgrading our regional radio network, and better managing end-of-shift changes so paramedics can finish on time.
We will continue to focus on health and safety improvements, including cultural safety and belonging, annual branch audits, and taking action to reduce risks including in isolated environments – working together to prevent harm from happening in the first place.
This work is in addition to State Government initiatives to improve paramedic and patient experience, such as the establishment of the new paramedic practitioner role and creating a new Centre for Paramedicine in partnership with Victoria University.
AV is in its foundational phase of a long-term journey towards cultural change. The Commission's feedback will help us better prioritise our efforts going forward, and we thank the Commission for its extensive work and guidance over the past few years.
Most of all, we thank everyone who has participated in this process by sharing their personal stories, experiences, and challenges they face. Their contributions offer a deeper understanding of what's required to guide our change journey.
We look forward to working with our people and our partners as we continue our important cultural reform.
Andrew Crisp AM APM
Interim Chief Executive Officer
