A senior doctor says Tasmania’s emergency care system is beyond breaking point and the pressure on staff to provide acceptable care under difficult conditions is becoming unbearable. The doctor has given evidence to an ambulance ramping inquiry where other health professionals also painted a picture of overloaded hospitals.
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00:00 A grim depiction of the inner workings of Tasmania's biggest hospitals, grappling with
00:08 a shortage of emergency department beds.
00:11 "Launceston, for example, has patients in corridors for greater than 24 hours.
00:16 They've accessed an old cupboard and removed the shelves and have patients in cupboard."
00:21 Evidence at a parliamentary hearing of the tough decisions staff are making inside an
00:26 emergency department bursting at the seams.
00:30 Some worry they'll be sued.
00:31 "A large level of dissatisfaction and fear of medical legal consequence and significant
00:38 risk and that means that we have significant staff attrition."
00:44 And an insight into the pressure paramedics are facing every day.
00:48 "I find a responsibility for myself is to keep up morale and I have to encourage others
00:55 who are at the hospital with patients that things will get better.
01:00 I'll try and get them breaks.
01:01 I'm trying to get them to see the light at the end of the tunnel."
01:04 "The state does have a very serious issue with respect to the emergency department and
01:11 the transfer of care delays.
01:13 We plan to improve that and that's why we're not waiting."
01:17 The Health Minister says the situation is being worsened by a long-standing shortage
01:22 of general practitioners, which is the federal government's domain.
01:27 But a GP training organisation says the state government can make a difference by putting
01:32 aside $4 million to pay off the hex debt of 40 graduating doctors.
01:37 "When people don't get to see their GPs and their health conditions aren't managed, where
01:41 do they go?
01:42 Ultimately they go to the Royal Hobart and the LGH."
01:44 A proposal the state government says it'll consider.
01:48 [BLANK_AUDIO]