That the Royal Hobart Hospital is experiencing sustained and intense pressure shouldn't come as any great surprise to anyone. The state's health system goes through stages where it comes under intense pressure and – to coin a phrase from Health Minister Michael Ferguson – "exceeds capacity".
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It happens at the Launceston General Hospital's emergency department when ambulances are forced to ramp. It happens on the North-West Coast when people are forced to be treated while sitting in chairs or lying on a gurney in a hallway.
The sad fact is, our health system does struggle at times to cope with excessive demands placed upon it. Often is it cyclical and one can only hope the current issues facing all our hospitals can be somewhat alleviated by the time the winter chills and ills arrive.
It's true that the Royal Hobart is undergoing extensive redevelopments and that's obviously placing extra pressure on that hospital's ability to treat large numbers of patients at a single time, as well as the ability of the staff to function efficiently. These issues are not unique to Tasmania. There are ongoing issues all the time in all health systems.
Currently, there's a major funding issue brewing at the Mersey hospital on the North-West Coast, with the existing funding arrangement set to expire at the end of June. We have a new federal Health Minister – Greg Hunt – but there’s still no signal either way from Canberra regarding its willingness to continue in a unique multi-million-dollar funding arrangement.
If that deal is reduced in any way - or god forbid scrapped altogether - that could place an incredible strain on the three remaining state-funded hospitals with the Mersey currently set up as the state's only dedicated elective surgical unit.
Meanwhile, the Launceston General Hospital continues to hobble along following the downgrading of one of its teaching accreditations. In January, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians cut the LGH’s adult internal medicine training accreditation from level three to two, which means doctors training in areas such as gastroenterology and cardiology can no longer complete their basic training.
This in turn affects the hospital’s ability to attract new young doctors. There’s still no solution in sight.
There’s much to be done to fix Tasmania’s health system.