HEADS MUST ROLL
Call for clean-out at the top
THE nation’s top body for emergency medicine says the only cure for Tasmania’s long-running health crisis is a spill of hospital management.
The Australasian College of Emergency Medicine has released shocking new figures which show the Royal
Hobart Hospital and Launceston General Hospital recorded the worst results in Australia for patient access block and 24-hour wait times — and they are getting worse.
The finding is despite a new Health Minister, an Access Solutions crisis summit in June, and a Government injection of funds into the health system. College president Simon Judkins said Tasmanian hospitals had resources on par with their better-performing interstate counterparts, but he described the current situation as “a disaster”.
And he said that without wholesale renewal of the hospital bureaucracy, no amount of money or beds was going to fix the problem.
THE nation’s peak body for emergency medicine is calling for a statewide strategy in response to shocking new data on emergency department access block in the state’s two main hospitals.
The Australasian College of Emergency Medicine says the results of the latest access block snapshot should also prompt a clean-out of hospital management.
The College’s most recent Emergency Department surveys, one taken on June 3 and one on September 2, show the Royal Hobart Hospital and Launceston General Hospital recorded the worst results of al hopsitals in Australia for patient access block and 24 hour wait times.
College president Simon Judkins said the September data survey was doubly concerning because it represented a deterioration in the situation at the RHH, despite the survey being taken after a June crisis meeting to address access block.
The College will meet with Health Minister Sarah Courtney this week to discuss the data.
However, Dr Judkins said throwing more money at the hospitals was not the solution.
“If we look at the number of beds at the Royal Hobart Hospital and the budget ... it’s not vastly different to what we see across the country. So there are other things at play,” Dr Judkins said.
“This is a disaster and it’s been happening for years and years but there doesn’t seem to be the combined will in both hospitals to sort it out.”
“Given the situation is now as desperate as it is, it is in the interests of all Tasmanians that the Government invests in culture change and leadership programs to resolve these issues. It may also be a time to explore who is in those leadership positions and if they are, in fact, the right people to oversee these vital pieces of work and culture change.”
Ms Courtney acknowledged hospital performance measures had not improved in the face of continually growing demand.
“There is no silver bullet to meet these challenges.
“Ultimately, the changes we need will take co-operation and effort from all levels of staff.
“While the ongoing implementation is yet to deliver the improvements we would like to have seen, I acknowledge the work of the staff in the hospital, and I thank them for their ongoing dedication - I know they are doing everything they can to provide Tasmanians with the best possible healthcare,” Ms Courtney said.