An inquest has been told of the shocking number of patients stuck in the emergency department for more than a day

An astonishing number of patients admitted to the Royal Hobart Hospital are waiting more than 24 hours in the emergency department, an inquest has heard.

The emergency department entrance at the Royal Hobart Hospital.

HUNDREDS of patients admitted to the Royal Hobart Hospital are waiting more than 24 hours in the emergency department while they wait for a ward bed, an inquest has heard.

The inquest was told it was a situation that is disproportionate to the rest of Australia and which the hospital management does not have the resources to address.

The hospital’s emergency medicine director Emma Huckerby today told the inquest the issue of “access block” was complex and “you need to put a lot of time and a lot of money and a lot of skills into fixing it”.

“The degree of access block at the Royal Hobart Hospital is disproportionate to the rest of Australia,” Dr Huckerby said.

She said more than 1800 patients who were admitted to the hospital last financial year spent more than 24 hours in the emergency department.

The figure compares to a combined total of just two at four large Melbourne hospitals — the Alfred, Austin, St Vincent’s and Royal Melbourne hospitals.

Dr Huckerby said the hospital’s managers “don’t have any resources with which to address access block effectively”.

Dr Emma Huckerby. Picture: ZAK SIMMONDS

Dr Huckerby was giving evidence at the inquest into the July 2016 death of Mornington man Joseph Lattimer, 37, who died following an attempt to take his own life while he was waiting for admission to the Royal Hobart Hospital for psychiatric treatment.

Mr Lattimer’s mother, Julie Lattimer, spoke of her son’s caring nature, his love of animals and his dry sense of humour when she gave evidence yesterday.

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Dr Huckerby said there had been an overall increase in the number of doctors and nurses working in the emergency department since July 2016.

She said the department also had funding to have a psychiatric emergency nurse working every shift, but recruiting difficulties meant not all shifts could be covered, including 60 per cent of night shifts.

Tasmania’s chief psychiatrist Dr Aaron Groves.

Tasmania’s chief psychiatrist Aaron Groves told the inquest there was a national and international shortage of psychiatric nurses and the working environment at the Royal Hobart Hospital meant it was particularly difficult to recruit psychiatric nurses to the hospital.

“It’s not a position people would choose when there are vacancies elsewhere which are easier to do,” Dr Groves said.

Mr Lattimer was triaged when he arrived at the hospital at 5.02am on July 10, 2016, but there were no psychiatric beds or a suitable emergency department bed for him at that time, the court has heard.

There was no psychiatric emergency nurse on duty when Mr Lattimer arrived. The triage nurse — whose work has not been criticised during the inquest — said she kept an eye on Mr Lattimer but noticed he was no longer in the waiting area after she triaged another patient at 5.44am.

Dr Huckerby said access block had worsened at the hospital since July 2016.

She said cultural change — alongside adequate capacity — was needed to make the hospital more efficient.

“You can’t just tell everyone to just change their culture, it actually takes a lot of work to change a culture,” she said.

The inquest also heard the redevelopment of the emergency department included plans for a separate waiting area for mental health patients. Dr Huckerby said that was at least two years away.

The inquest, before Coroner Olivia McTaggart, will resume at a later date for closing submissions.

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