EMERGENCY department consultant Grace Sousa says staff have been lobbying Health Minister Michael Ferguson to address the issues at the Launceston General Hospital since September last year.
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Senior doctors wrote a joint letter to Mr Ferguson that month which led to the temporary opening of 12 beds in Ward 4D from mid-September until early this year.
She said a similar solution was required to deal with bed block in the hospital now.
“Capacity within the hospital is the issue,” Dr Sousa said.
“You can increase efficiency as much as you want, but it won’t make up for a lack of beds.”
Dr Sousa is one of nine emergency consultants to announce they will resign, retire or reduce their hours in the last month. There are just 11 in the department.
Doctors have linked the exodus with a lack of resources and a proposed pay decrease of up to 20 per cent.
Mr Ferguson has consistently said he and Tasmanian Health Service chief executive David Alcorn recognised challenges at the LGH and were working closely with staff to address their concerns.
He would not comment on whether the doctors were being offered a pay rise to stay at the hospital.
“What I will say is we are working closely with staff to understand if there are any barriers that could be overcome to a number of them continuing to stay,” Mr Ferguson said.
“I was really pleased the solution we put forward last year (with Ward 4D), although it was temporary because of the [allied health] redevelopment, it was useful.
“I’m interested in seeing if we can be creative about going a similar path again.”
Dr Sousa said it would take significant action to change her mind about leaving the LGH.
She has worked at the hospital for about a year and moved to Tasmania to work in the facility.
“I knew it was going to be a challenging situation when I came but it sounded like things were improving, but we haven’t been able to maintain those improvements,” she said.
“Right now my visceral reaction is to go back to Hawaii. Part of me wants to go back and lick my wounds a bit.
“If I did see something really substantial I would be cautiously optimistic and extend (my resignation date from September to December).”
Mr Ferguson is expected to announce his response to the situation at the LGH this week.
Dr Sousa emphasised the hospital was still safe and said it was important people who thought they needed to go to emergency did so.
