The Tasmanian Government and the Department of Health are providing support to staff and patients affected by the wounding of a medical professional at the North West Regional Hospital.
The incident occurred on Sunday in the hospital’s Emergency Department, with the injured doctor now at the Royal Hobart Hospital in a critical but stable condition.
“On behalf of the Tasmanian Government, our thoughts and prayers go to our staff member, his family and friends, and to all staff and patients that have been impacted by this incident,” Premier and Minister for Health Jeremy Rockliff said.
“The safety and well being of our staff and patients is our number one priority and professionally trained security professionals are employed at all our public hospitals.
“Critical incident support protocols have been initiated by the Department of Health to provide the necessary support to any staff and patients impacted.”
Department of Health Secretary Kathrine Morgan-Wicks said the thoughts of everyone across the Department were with the injured team member, his family, work colleagues and anyone impacted by this concerning incident.
“I would like to thank all staff across North West Regional Hospital, the Mersey Community Hospital, our aero-retrieval team and the Royal Hobart trauma team for responding to this incident and supporting their colleagues in these difficult circumstances,” she said.
“As a Department we have initiated a critical incident response, which includes providing targeted support to all staff and patients impacted by this incident and debriefing sessions. A critical incident review will determine if any improvements need to be made to our response, the support for our staff and the safe operation of our Emergency treatment areas.
“Employee Assistance Program counsellors have been on site today at the North West Regional Hospital and will be present throughout the rest of the week to provide staff with well being support.
“Support services are also being organised for staff at the Mersey Community Hospital due to the close nature of the teams at both sites.
“Staff requiring adjustments and support in the coming days and weeks are encouraged to speak to their manager and human resources and will continue to be supported as we move through the investigation process.”
As this is an ongoing police investigation, all further inquiries should be directed to Tasmania Police.
