Health Department defends directive to keep patients in ambulances

UPDATED: A plan to keep patients in ambulances outside if they cannot get into the Royal Hobart Hospital promptly has been dropped before it had even been implemented.

THE health department says a directive to keep patients in ambulances while waiting for hospital admission will not proceed despite it defending the proposed order as a way of improving patient care and workplace safety.

ABC Radio today reported that Ambulance Tasmania’s Southern Region health and safety group has directed staff to stop working in the Royal Hobart Hospital’s ramping area from Friday.

The instruction meant patients who are awaiting admission to the emergency department for more than 30 minutes would wait in ambulances instead.

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Department of Health secretary Kathrine Morgan-Wicks said the move was about improving workplace safety and patient care.

“Ambulance Tasmania has been working with Worksafe Tasmania and our health and safety representatives in good faith to address the issues raised by the Southern HSR group,” she said.

But in a statement provided to the Mercury on Thursday evening, Ms Wicks said the directive would not go ahead.

“Worksafe Tasmania has advised me that the provisional improvement notice relating to workplace health and safety issues for ambulances ramped at the Royal Hobart Hospital is no longer in effect following inspection and assessment,” she said.

“As a result, a flagged directive to cease work by Ambulance Tasmania’s Southern Region health and safety representatives to paramedics will not be able to proceed.

“I want to reiterate that the safety of our patients and staff is our top priority.

“We understand there can be pressures in times of high demand – and this is why Ambulance Tasmania is implementing measures right now to improve workplace health and safety.

“Ambulance Tasmania, the Tasmanian Health Service and the Department of Health

acknowledge that demand for public health care is growing, which is why 44 new beds will be coming on line as we commission K-Block next year.”

Labor health spokeswoman Sarah Lovell said the health system was broken.

“What we’re seeing happen now is paramedics taking matters into their own hands because they’re faced with a government who won’t take their concerns seriously, and who have continued to fail to adequately resource both the hospital system and the ambulance service,” she said.

But Minister for State Growth Michael Ferguson said the Government was keenly focused on the problems in health.

“We’re more than aware of the demands that have been placed on our health system right now and we’re not relaxed about it at all. We’re very working very hard on it,” he said.

“Tasmanians can be assured we’re not cutting health the way that Labor did.

“We’re investing more in it, including in [the] ambulance [service] an extra $125 million dollars.”