Latest news with #DavidDutton
ABC News
7 days ago
- Health
- ABC News
ACT Ambulance Service confirms just four stretchered vehicles in operation one night this week
In the early hours of Thursday morning, there were only four stretchered ambulances on Canberra roads — less than half the ideal number, the chief officer of the ACT Ambulance Service has confirmed. Between 2am and 6:30am, Chief Officer David Dutton said there were four transport stretcher ambulances and three single response units (SRU) covering the Canberra region. SRUs are vehicles staffed by intensive care paramedics, who respond to calls for assistance and can assess whether a stretchered ambulance is required. Transport Workers Union official Ben Sweeney said staffing was on a "knife-edge" within the service. Mr Sweeney said there was "a lot of pressure on the roster at the moment" due to staff illness, but that lower staffing was "far too common an occurrence". Mr Dutton said the hours between Wednesday night and Thursday morning were "challenging" for the service. But he argued it was "incorrect" to say there were only four ambulances on duty — pointing to the three SRUs as additional resources. "We actually had seven ambulance resources available to Canberra," he said. He said those resources were also supported by staff at their communications centre, "which includes an ambulance paramedic or an intensive care paramedic who's able to provide 'hear and treat' or virtual support to both patients and also to our crews on duty". "It's important to understand the reasons why Wednesday night was such a tough night and, up front, I want to acknowledge, for our staff, whether they were on the road or in our communications centre, it was a busy night," he said. "But the reality when there are less than ideal numbers of resources is that everyone that is at work works a little bit harder. "We did have some short-notice unscheduled sick leave on Wednesday night that impacted the number of resources that we were able to provide to the community." Mr Dutton said there were vacancies within the service that they were hopeful of filling soon. Around a dozen graduate paramedics are expected to begin shifts in the coming weeks, and 10 qualified paramedics from interstate will start in Canberra in November. "Many of the challenges that ACT Ambulance faces are being felt by jurisdictions around the country... these are not problems that are unique or special. "We are a growing city with a growing population and our ambulance service will need to grow to meet the high standards of care that we desire to provide. "Our emergency response times, when you benchmark nationally, are the best in Australia, so that is positive and that is encouraging."
BBC News
09-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Liverpool: End of free city centre parking 'unviable' say traders
Traders and musicians in Liverpool have rallied against a decision to scrap free city-centre parking over concern charges would make their jobs "unviable".Liverpool City Council approved plans last week to remove free on-street parking in the evenings despite close to 90 percent of about 1200 respondents to a public consultation opposing the change, introduced by the Labour run-council to crackdown on "inconsiderate parking", will see charges apply in on-street bays from 07:00 to 23:00 instead of 08:00-18: Dutton, a musician who performs at clubs in the city centre said the move would make his work "not worth doing" due to the cost. He said: "I've just paid £6.40 today for parking and yesterday cost me £20 to do two gigs, so this will makes it totally unviable."Labour councillor Dan Barrington said the move was needed as "inconsiderate and reckless parking" had made pavements and streets more dangerous. 'Farcical charge' Mr Dutton said he felt the rise in cost would "kill grassroots music in the city".Fiona Hornsby, who owns the Bridewell Pub, said the charges add "another burden" to her staff, who cannot take the bus home as services stop at midnight. She said: "They will either have to go out every two hours to move their car or are they going need to extend for six or seven hours."If they insist on this farcical charge then the public transport has to improve." The Liberal Democrats in Liverpool have proposed a Plan for Scran scheme to incentivise customers back into the city centre by offering promotional offers at independent cafes, restaurants and bars, from Monday to McAllister Bell is a councillor for Mossley Hill, and deputy leader of the council's Lib Dem group. He said: "If you work in a bar, finish at midnight, or want a spontaneous midweek scran you shouldn't be penalised for it."Barrington said the council had made changes following the consultation, including increasing the maximum stay in the Hope Street area to four hours. Other measures introduced include new shared-use bays after 6pm for disabled, resident, and new pay and display or single yellow lines in a number of locations. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
