My adjournment matter is for the attention of the Minister for Health, David Davis, who is in the chamber, and it is in relation to ambulance services in Beaufort. In the May 2012 state budget the coalition government promised a new 24-hour ambulance station for Beaufort. However, late last year an internal memo leaked to the Pyrenees Advocate revealed that there would be only three paramedics employed at the station when the normal number of staff for a 24-hour ambulance station is 11. The Pyrenees Advocate has since reported that the number of staff to be employed at the Beaufort station is actually only two. According to Steve McGhie from Ambulance Employees Australia, this will mean that the station staff will work solo shifts and have to rely on volunteer community officers in times of emergency.
The provision of proper ambulance services in Beaufort for the township and outlying communities is a significant issue and has been talked about in the community for a long time, even before the 2012 budget announcement, but it has taken on major proportions in recent months. The action I seek is that the minister come clean and advise me and the community as to what date the station will be fully operational, whether the station will be a 24-hour operation, how many paramedics will be on the station’s roster and how many paramedics will be working at any one time.