Long-serving Tasmanian paramedic proves staff shortages led to mental health injury

A long-serving Tasmanian paramedic has fought his employer, the Department of Health, after he suffered a mental health injury caused by “critical staff shortages” at work.

The Department of Health disputed liability to pay workers’ compensation to an long-serving paramedic and deployment supervisor who had a “meltdown” due to critical staff shortages.

A Tasmanian paramedic with 16 years’ experience has been found to have suffered a workplace-related mental health injury caused by “critical staff shortages” in the state’s health system.

In its newly-published decision, the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal said the man went to his doctor in December last year, saying he had started shaking and feeling “overwhelmed with the mental load” due to “chronic understaffing” at work.

He said he had been employed more recently as an ambulance deployment supervisor part-time, but offered to go full time in June 2023 after he said six people in his role quit “due to stress and lack of support”.

The worker told his boss he was “happy to help out until things settled down” given the “obvious shortfall in staffing”.

The man said the Ambulance Tasmania acting director said three months would be sufficient to find more staff, but “it was not”.

Ambulance Tasmania. Picture: Tasmanian Department of Health

After six months working full-time, the paramedic made a workers’ compensation claim, saying he suffered an adjustment disorder with low mood, anxiety and panic attacks – but the Department of Health disputed its liability to pay.

Just before he became incapacitated for work in December last year, the worker had what he described as a “meltdown” at work, yelling and swearing over the lack of paramedic crews in the southern region and the number of patients in a hospital waiting room.

He said on the day in question, five managers were aware of the critical staff shortages seven hours before the night shift started, and yet “nothing was done”.

Consultant psychiatrist Peter Miller diagnosed the man with a “disease” of adjustment disorder with depression and anxiety that was in partial remission, and caused by “a sustained period of highly stressful work accompanied by a perceived lack of understanding and support by his superiors”.

Dr Miller said his angry outburst was out of character for a man with 16 years’ experience as a paramedic.

Tribunal deputy president Alison Clues noted the worker was not granted leave when he applied for it in July last year when he said he was “reaching capacity”, and that there was no evidence his perception of a lack of support was not in fact in reality.

She said there was no dispute over the truth of the staff shortages – and that the department had not made out its case in disputing its liability to pay the man worker’s compensation.

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Originally published as Long-serving Tasmanian paramedic proves staff shortages led to mental health injury