South west Sydney is benefiting from a temporary ambulance site at Smeaton Grange, which is supporting additional NSW Ambulance staff already on the road in the region.
Minister for Health Ryan Park and Member for Camden Sally Quinnell visited the new site yesterday to meet the paramedics providing care to Sydney's south west communities.
Fifty paramedics started working out of the temporary site in late February while planning is underway for new ambulance stations at Oran Park and Raby.
A further 26 paramedics, usually based at Camden Ambulance Station, also started working out of the temporary site from Monday 23 February while renovation works are underway at Camden.
NSW Ambulance often utilises temporary facilities to create additional capacity while construction of a new ambulance station or a major refurbishment of a station is underway.
A site has been identified for Oran Park ambulance station with a contractor soon to be appointed to start work. A search for potential sites at Raby is continuing with detailed investigations underway.
The temporary site is located on Sedgewick Street in Smeaton Grange, and includes offices, a kitchen, lounge and dining areas, amenities and locker room facilities, a communications room and ambulance parking bays.
As part of the Strategic Workforce and Infrastructure Team (SWIFT) program, the South West Sydney sector has received a boost of 125 additional paramedics, which includes the 50 paramedics who will work out of the temporary Smeaton Grange site.
The SWIFT program is delivering 2,500 additional NSW Ambulance staff, including 500 paramedics to rural and regional areas, to boost emergency and mobile healthcare for our metropolitan and regional communities.
The NSW Government's $615.5 million NSW Ambulance Infrastructure Program is boosting frontline emergency care with 30 additional ambulance stations and supporting infrastructure across Sydney, the Central Coast, Newcastle, the Hunter and Wollongong.
NSW Ambulance and Health Infrastructure are conducting a thorough land search to identify potential locations that best meet the needs of the community for emergency ambulance operations.
As well as Oran Park, sites for ambulance stations at North Sydney, South Windsor, Berowra, Prestons, Moss Vale, Bargo, Lisarow, Glendenning, Caves Beach, Carlingford, Macquarie Park, Warilla, Unanderra, Narrabeen, North Rothbury and Gateshead have also been identified.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Health, Ryan Park:
"The Minns Labor Government is continuing its investment into frontline emergency health care for south west Sydney with more paramedics on the road and more ambulance stations.
"This temporary site at Smeaton Grange is enhancing care for the Camden community while work is underway to deliver new ambulance stations across the region."
Quotes attributable to Member for Camden Sally Quinnell:
"I welcome this latest investment into emergency health care for our growing community in Camden.
"The broader south west Sydney community is set to benefit with planning underway for stations in Raby and Oran Park, and this temporary site at Smeaton Grange will help paramedics continue to deliver excellence in care to people right across Camden."
Quotes attributable to NSW Ambulance Chief Executive Dr Dominic Morgan:
"This temporary facility at Smeaton Grange allows NSW Ambulance the opportunity to recruit and deploy additional paramedics to the area ahead of the construction of a new ambulance station. This gets people on the ground more quickly to assist the community, delivering their life-saving skills when they are needed most.
"NSW Ambulance is dedicated to providing first-class health care to all communities throughout the state, and through evidence-based, effective and efficient service planning in delivering ambulance resources, it can ensure paramedics are there when and where they are needed most."
