TASMANIAN ambulance officers worked more than 3000 overtime hours in two months.
Leaked documents show that ambulance officers from the South worked 3469 overtime hours in January and February, representing 302 extra shifts.
Opposition health minister Jeremy Rockliff said increased overtime could lead to fatigue and stress, and pointed to a health system in crisis.
Ambulance Tasmania chief executive Dominic Morgan said the demand for services continued to increase, but response times to emergency calls had remained stable.
``Ambulance Tasmania has had high levels of overtime this financial year. Partly this is caused by having paramedics in many regional towns,'' Mr Morgan said.
``Tasmanians can be re-assured that the Ambulance Service is there for them when they need it.''
``In fact, by next month, 30 new paramedics will have been employed since December last year - eight in December, 10 in January and a further 12 in April.''
Mr Rockliff said it was the ambulance officers that had brought the overtime to public attention.
``Three and a half thousand hours of overtime in the first two months of this year points to a system in crisis. It should also be remembered that each hour of overtime costs the government an extra $60, and so that amount of money should be directed to employing more resources with respect to our ambulance officers.''
