The UWU Strategic Power team put together a report from the June 2022 Victorian Public Service’s ‘People Matter’ survey. Delegates who have seen the report are hardly surprised by Ambulance Victoria’s performance in relation to the overall VPS average.
For those wanting a snapshot:
34% of ambulance staff reported experiencing high to severe work-related stress in 2022. Concerningly, this cohort has grown among ambulance staff; from 28% in 2020.
Among underlying causes of this stress, ambulance staff reported notably higher incidences of the following factors than the broader VPS average:
- Work schedule or hours;
- Competing home and work responsibilities;
- Management of work (e.g. supervision, training, information, support);
- Work that doesn’t match my skills or experience;
- Social environment (relationships with colleagues, managers, senior leaders);
- Organisation or workplace change; and
- Incivility, bullying, harassment, or discrimination.
Satisfaction with career development among ambulance staff has dropped, from 43% in 2020 to 34% in 2022. This is now almost half the level of satisfaction than at the best-performing comparator organisation (not named, but in the broader public health system).
Underlying such a result are findings such as just 17% of respondents believing they have an equal chance at promotion within Ambulance Victoria (compared to the 57% at the best-performing comparator organisation), and an even lower 11% believing the promotion processes are fair (again far lower than the 53% of respondents at the best-performing comparator).
For those looking for more, find the report here.
