‘Different to Salamanca on Saturday night’: Hospital security questioned after stabbing

The stabbing of a well known doctor in Tassie’s north-west has prompted a review, as a union boss blasts security arrangements across Tasmania’s public hospitals. LATEST >>

North West Regional Hospital. Picture: AAP/Simon Sturzaker

The stabbing of a doctor at the North West Regional Hospital on Sunday will be reviewed by the Department of Health, but the incident has prompted questions around security arrangements at Tasmania’s public hospitals.

On Tuesday, Premier Jeremy Rockliff said he’d spoken to the family of the “well known” doctor.

He said the man was in a critical but stable condition.

“The medical professional, the dad, the husband, which I know the family would be so terribly worried about … we do see signs of improvement,” Mr Rockliff said.

“We’ve offered our thoughts and best wishes at what is an extremely traumatic time … we can only hope and pray the recovery of course continues.”

Premier Jeremy Rockliff at the South Hobart Pharmacy. Picture: Chris Kidd

Mr Rockliff said the alleged stabbing had been classed a critical incident.

“As part of any critical incident there is a review to determine if any improvements need to be made to our response … There may well be areas of which we can improve,” Mr Rockliff said.

Health and Community Services Union assistant secretary Robbie Moore said there had been several incidents at public hospitals over the years.

“There have been other incidents or near misses that could have been like this incident … Other incidents in other hospitals, including the [Royal Hobart Hospital] where patients have made it into wards with dangerous equipment.

“We need to have a sophisticated response to this that still has a medical view that ensures the safety of everyone at the hospital.”

HACSU Industrial Manager Robbie Moore. Picture: Chris Kidd

Mr Moore said hospitals should have in-house security, instead of the jobs being outsourced to private companies.

“They’re not employed directly and working in a health environment, they don’t have an understanding of any of the hospitals, or how you respond to people in a health setting as opposed to how you respond to people in Salamanca on a Saturday night,” Mr Moore said.

“They’re totally different environments and need totally different skills.

“We need the government to immediately take steps to employ these security guards themselves and bring them into the health team so we have a co-ordinated response.”

Mr Rockliff said the state government would consult with unions on potential improvements.

“I have requested the Department of Health and indeed myself work with key stakeholders including the AMA (Australian Medical Association), the nurses union, HACSU and other unions to ensure we do have the most robust security systems within our hospital environment, particularly our emergency departments.

“We’ll be bringing together all those stakeholders to see what improvements we can make and need to be made and any leanings from this critical incident that we can improve and bolster security in the interest of safety for not only our health professionals but of course patients as well.”

Tasmania Police have charged a 17-year-old boy with wounding, two counts of assault and threatening police.