Move to cap ambulance ramping times to a maximum 60 minutes comes to a grinding halt

A new ambulance ramping procedure to cap wait times to 60 minutes won’t be implemented this month after a decision by the Tasmanian Industrial Commission. Why it’s come to a halt.

Ambulances at the Royal Hobart Hospital. Picture: Chris Kidd

In a significant win for the nurses’ union, the Tasmanian Industrial Commission has ordered that a new ambulance ramping procedure not be implemented until further consultation is held.

The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation took the Minister and Department of Health to the commission seeking a status quo order on the implementation of the new transfer of care procedure which was to start at three hospitals on Monday.

Commission president David Barclay directed that the procedure was “not to be implemented until further order”.

“The parties are to consult on Monday 18 March with a view to resolving as many issues as possible,” he noted.

Nurses had held industrial action to protest at the policy which would impose a 60-minute transfer rule for ambulances to transfer patients into emergency departments.

It was to be implemented at the Launceston General Hospital, North West Regional Hospital and Mersey Hospital from Monday.

ANMF secretary Emily Shepherd said the change would have a “massive impact” on hospital staff and posed risks to patients.

ANMF Secretary Emily Shepherd at the ANMF offices in Hobart. Picture: Linda Higginson

“The reason we went to the commission was that we felt that there hadn’t been adequate consultation with our members, those staff in the hospital that this change is going to have a massive impact on and that has highlighted significant risks,” she said.

“We’ve had no response to the transfer of care procedure consultation, and the consultation process.

“The risks are we have unstable patients, undiagnosed patients being offloaded for ambulance stretchers into overcrowded, overcapacity emergency departments without sufficient staffing.

“There’s been no increase to staffing, whether that be in the emergency department or across the hospital.

“And we’ve maintained right throughout this process since July last year that to enable the offload of patients, we need to improve access and flow.”

Ms Shepherd said hospitals already were short staffed.

“Nurses are really worried about patient care and equally, I’m sure paramedics are concerned about responding to triple zero calls in the community,” she said.

“But our members don’t want to see patients suffer adverse outcomes or potentially die in our hospitals because they don’t have sufficient resources.

“Obviously we all want the same thing here.

“We want patients to get timely access to care from the triple zero call through to discharge in our hospitals, but we can’t just say we’re going to end ramping and then do nothing to facilitate access because that will just not work and it will put everyone at risk.”

Health Minister Guy Barnett wants to have a 30-minute transfer rule from ambulance to hospital by 2026.

Originally published as Move to cap ambulance ramping times to a maximum 60 minutes comes to a grinding halt