NT government yet to develop ambulance legislation despite Neale Fong review urging it in 2017

The NT government is yet to develop legislation for the provision of ambulance services, despite it being urged to do so in a scathing report years earlier.

A WORKING group to ­develop legislation making it illegal for Territorians to pose as an ambulance provider has only just been established, despite it being recommended in a scathing review of services almost four years ago.

In December 2017 the NT Road Ambulance Service Scoping Review by Professor Neale Fong recommended the Territory government create legislation to regulate the “provision of pre-hospital emergency ambulance responses or patient transport services including inter-hospital transport services”.

“Any individual could buy a vehicle, place a flashing light or siren on the roof and purport to be an ambulance provider,” Prof Fong said.

“Clearly there is risk in this for patients (who may assume the provider had bona fides qualifications and experience) and for the government who have a role in regulating functions and setting standards that protect their citizens … it’s the reviewer’s view that legislation for the regulation of ambulance service can assist in providing protective measures and therefore lessen service risk for the general community.”

At the time the NT and Western Australia were the only jurisdictions where the provision of ambulance services was not regulated by legislation.

In the process of a Freedom Of Information request, the NT News confirmed a working group to develop this legislation had only been created earlier this year.

Health Minister Natasha Fyles, who was also Attorney-General when the review was handed down, said 33 of the review’s recommendations had been implemented and seven partially complete or in progress.

“The establishment of the working group is a part of a continued effort to implement the recommendations and improve our ambulance services,” she said. “Reviewing legislation takes time, and it’s important for us to get this right.”

However United Workers Union NT branch secretary Erina Early said developing the legislation should have been one of the government’s first priorities following the review. “Anything to do with ensuring that the ambulance service is transparent and there’s an accountable process should always be a priority,” she said.

United Workers Uniont NT secretary Erina Early said the legislation should have been a priority. Picture: Justin Kennedy

“The Health Minister had the prime opportunity to address this swiftly but hasn’t.”

Ms Early said the union had been “completely excluded” from the working group. St John NT director of ambulance services Andrew Thomas said the organisation was not aware of any incidents with people purporting to be ambulance providers. He said it was crucial as many Territorians as possible were trained in first aid.

“As Territorians we all have a responsibility to care for those in need until professional medical assistance can arrive,” he said. “For this reason we advocate for public first aid training and calling triple-0 in an emergency to receive ongoing first aid advice from our emergency medical dispatchers.”