Frustrated paramedics say the culture within the ACT ambulance service is deteriorating while the organisation continues to navel gaze.
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While a much-touted cultural review of the industry promised reform, months on some union members have reported a slide in the other direction.
A leaked copy of the review – commissioned in 2013 – showed the ambulance service was plagued by bullying, blame, distrust and erratic management.
Emergency Services Minister Joy Burch pledged action on the findings in March but intensive care paramedic and Transport Workers Union delegate Rob Trevillion said union members were losing faith in the drawn-out process.
"Members are reporting to me there's a wide-held belief that nothing has changed, in fact people feel more uncomfortable than before," Mr Trevillion said.
"[They] are frustrated and some are more fearful than before, they think things have actually gotten worse and they're not happy with the way things have changed."
Mr Trevillion said paramedics were afraid they wouldn't be dealt with fairly.
He said it had come to a point where "people are fearful to participate in the conversation".
Steve McGhie, president of the National Council of Ambulance Unions, said the problems within the ACT ambulance service were symptomatic of a wider septicity within the industry.
Union heads from across the country are watching the reform process in the ACT closely, and if it's successful, hope to roll it out across Australia, he said.
"We know there has to be radical change across the board, and that's not just within management, it has to happen within the workforce," Mr McGhie said.
"The culture has been a long-standing issue and has worsened year after year. The ambulance service becomes almost non-productive in certain circumstances because of the low morale.
"It's certainly something all paramedics and ambulance managers want to improve."
Steve Rohan Jones co-founded O2C, the organisation which authored the scathing assessment of ambulance culture.
Speaking at the National Council of Ambulance Unions conference in Canberra this week, he said the nature of paramedic work had an impact on the organisation's culture.
He highlighted a lack of training as paramedics scale the leadership ladder and stifling levels of bureaucracy as other issues the industry faced.
"The ambulance services in the country are on a journey [with the review process] and it's potentially a long road to get to where they want to go with their culture," Mr Rohan Jones said.
A statement from the Emergency Media and Broadcasting Services of the ACT Emergency Services Agency said they were using the Blueprint for Change report to develop a framework for the service to address workforce concerns around trust, conflict resolution and leadership.
"A positive, productive and first class service is what we are all working towards. We all want positive change to happen – and it will happen when we work as one and respect each other's views," they said.
