Hato Hone St John is always looking for opportunities to ensure our spending is focused on frontline service delivery.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have had additional and more frequent commercial cleaning services in place at some of our ambulance stations.
In some cases, this cleaning duplicates activities our frontline people already do, such as putting a dishwasher on, emptying rubbish bins and wiping a coffee table after a meal.
From 1 July 2026, we will be looking to focus commercial cleaners on tasks that are not practical for our frontline people to do, including window washing and deep cleans.
Hato Hone St John currently spends $1.3m annually on commercial cleaning, and we hope to redirect some of this expenditure into other areas such as building projects or buffering the impact of increased fuel costs.
We intend to work through an approach to this over the coming weeks, which involves discussion with union representatives.
We recognise the demands on our people and any potential changes will sit within normal workflows, without impacting frontline response or patient care.
Attributable to Stuart Cockburn, Hato Hone St John General Manager – Ambulance Operations