Health Minister Guy Barnett apologises to patients and families affected by ambulance ramping

Health Minister Guy Barnett faces a parliamentary committee into ambulance ramping and announces a new protocol. His apology to patients, their families and healthcare workers.

Health Minister Guy Barnett. Picture: Stephanie Dalton

Health Minister Guy Barnett has apologised to those affected by ambulance ramping at the state’s public hospitals.

Addressing a parliamentary committee on Thursday afternoon, Mr Barnett said the government was doing all it can.

“I want to reassure all Tasmanians and enormous effort is being made to address this issue and we will not rest until significant improvements are made on behalf of the government,” he said.

“I sincerely apologise for any adverse outcomes transfer of care delays have caused.

“My heart goes out to the patients, their families, and the healthcare workers impacted.”

Mr Barnett announced a new protocol would be implemented across the health system next month mandating a maximum 60-minute wait for all patients arriving by ambulance to be transferred to the care of emergency department staff.

Under the new protocol, paramedics will work with emergency department staff to commence handover of patients approaching the 60-minute deadline, including completion of relevant patient documentation, he said.

Earlier committee sessions heard from two Launceston General nurses about a culture of covering up the cause of deaths and falsifying death certificates at the hospital.

The Department of Health said an independent clinical expert will determine if cases of are reportable deaths have not been referred to the coroner.

It said following review, if any deaths are considered to be reportable deaths, they will be referred pursuant to the Coroner’s Act to all relevant authorities, including Tasmania Police if a potential breach of the law is detected.

Secretary of the Department of Health Kathrine Morgan-Wicks said she had received information from a staff member in relation to one patient, and is continuing to make further inquiries in relation to this case.

She has also received four more anonymous complaints which support the allegations raised by witnesses to the Select Committee, but these do not identify any patient information to review.

“We’ve had contact from another medical practitioner that has identified eight patient matters,” she told the inquiry.

“And we are in the process of pulling all of those records however, at least one of those I’m informed has already been reported to the coroner and we need to go through each matter which illustrates to us that there may be some communication or closing the loop issues with staff that are involved in a patient death occurrence.”

Originally published as Health Minister Guy Barnett apologises to patients and families affected by ambulance ramping