UPDATE 1.15PM
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No new emergency medicine trainees will be permitted to accrue training time at the Launceston General Hospital during or after 2018, until a successful application is made to the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine.
College president Dr Simon Judkins said accreditation was revoked because the hospital did not meet the requirements.
“One of ACEM’s roles is to maintain professional standards in training, including accreditation of emergency departments for emergency medicine training,” he said.
“ACEM has advised Tasmanian Health Services that it will be withdrawing Launceston emergency department’s accreditation as a FACEM training provider.”
Dr Judkins said the purpose of a formal process of accreditation and re-accreditation of sites for the Fellows of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine training program was to ensure “defined acceptable training and education standards are provided by the training site”.
“Once [the LGH] puts measures in place to resolve the issues, they can submit an application to be reassessed as an ACEM training site.
“No new trainees will be permitted to accrue training time towards the FACEM training program at this facility during or after 2018, until a successful application is made to the college for reinstatement. Any such application will involve a complete re-inspection to take place before the site can again be accredited for FACEM training.”
Dr Judkins said the college was in contact and working with trainees.
“In order not to disadvantage trainees currently working or those who already have a signed contract to work at Launceston General Hospital during 2018, these trainees will be allowed to complete the 2018 training year at Launceston.”
UPDATE 10AM
The Launceston General Hospital has been unable to recruit the required number of Fellows of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine to keep its training accreditation, the Health Department says.
Department Secretary Michael Pervan said he had held discussions with the college regarding the hospital’s training accreditation. He said the Tasmanian Health Service would work closely with the college to restore it.
“ACEM formally notified the state government on Monday that following its review of training accreditation at the LGH in November, it had made the decision to [revoke] accreditation,” he said.
“This is based primarily on the number of Fellows of the Australasian College [for] Emergency Medicine currently permanently based at the LGH, as the college noted in its November review that staff morale had improved along with other positive indicators regarding patient care.
“The college requires a certain number of FACEMs to be employed in order for a hospital to have training accreditation. Unfortunately, the LGH has been unable to recruit the required number for some years now and has been relying on locums to ensure patient services are maintained.”
Mr Pervan said the department recognised there were “some historical challenges to recruiting specialists in regional areas, but they are issues we will need to overcome”.
“I have assured ACEM that the THS will do all that it can to work with the college to address this issue and have accreditation restored.”
Mr Pervan said the college indicated there would be no immediate impact on registrars currently training at the LGH.
“As this decision relates to training accreditation, it will not impact on patient services at the LGH’s emergency department, or indeed, the broader hospital.
“We take great pride in being able to maintain the LGH as a teaching hospital, and therefore will be consulting closely with ACEM to ensure this issue is resolved as quickly as possible,” Mr Pervan said.
EARLIER
The Launceston General Hospital has lost its emergency medicine training accreditation.
The Australasian College for Emergency Medicine on Thursday morning confirmed the training accreditation had been revoked.
Australian Medical Association Tasmania president Stuart Day said it was a “big issue”.
"... It's a significant issue if we cannot turn [the accreditation loss] around in the next few months and ask the college to review the accreditation... for 2019,” Dr Day said on radio on Thursday morning.
Dr Day said the accreditation loss did not come as a surprise.
The hospital had already had its training accreditation downgraded from a level three to a level two, following a review from the college in December 2016.
This training downgrade meant it made the hospital “pretty unattractive” for trainees to complete their studies at, LGH Medical Staff Association chairman Dr Scott Parkes said at the time.
Dr Parkes told The Examiner the downgrade would lead to retention issues, decreased registrars and in increased reliance on locums.
The college bases its decisions on the number of Australian-trained specialists at hospitals, Dr Day said.
While the LGH has recently recruited Australian-trained specialists – with one due to start this month – Dr Day said this would not be “quite enough” to sway the college’s decision.
Dr Day said administration and governance of the Tasmanian health system had been “in a shambles for the last couple of years” but restructure changes would hopefully address issues at the LGH, and Royal Hobart Hospital.
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