Today, I am at the Launceston General Hospital (LGH) calling on the government to urgently review the LGH Emergency Department (ED) and implement an immediate action plan.
This review should be done independently and identify solutions to bed block to improve patient outcomes and relieve pressure on our dedicated health workers.
The LGH has the worst bed block in the country, with one in 10 waiting more than 30 hours for care.
This was again highlighted by last week’s Health Dashboard Data that showing that only 37 per cent of LGH ED patients are seen on time, compared to 56 per cent last October. This is shocking and completely unacceptable.
The Rockliff Government’s track record of managing and improving the health system is doing little to provide Tasmanians with confidence in their time of need.
Since the minority Liberal Government came to office 10 years ago, there has been a revolving door of health ministers and the health system is the worst it’s ever been.
Ambulance ramping is at an all-time high with paramedics and Tasmanians spending 31,000 hours on the ramp between July 2022 and May this year. Things are so bad that paramedics are now rostered to the ramp.
The LGH is the major referral hospital for the North and currently it requires further investment to ensure it can provide services to our Northern population.
To make matters worse, 10 coronial inquiries into deaths at the LGH over the past six years have highlighted issues plaguing the Tasmanian health system and it appears the Government has no plan to fix the systemic issues identified through this process.
Our hardworking health workers are at breaking point and even though they continue to highlight these issues to government, their pleas have fallen on deaf ears with the government preferring to rely on agency nurses and locums to fill the gaps.
The new Health Minister needs to commit to a review of the ED at the LGH and access flow, listen to our health workers, adequately workforce plan and to finally follow through on his Government’s promise to build the $580 million stage two redevelopment of the LGH.
Anita Dow MP
Shadow Minister for Health, Mental Health and Wellbeing
