LAUNCESTON General Hospital’s head of cardiology has warned that acute cardiac services will deteriorate if the busy department loses two beds in an attempt to find budget savings. Brian Herman said Tasmanian Health Organisation North was looking to cut costs by moving two beds from the LGH’s six-bed Northern cardiac care unit to its acute medical unit. Dr Herman said the cardiac unit provided quick, immediate care to serious North and North-West cardiac patients, with many admitted and discharged within 24 hours. But he said the unit could not continue to meet increasing demand if it lost two beds, as it already operated at more than 100 per cent capacity due to its fast turnover. ‘‘Two beds might not sound like a lot, but when it’s one-third of what you have, that’s a really significant impact,’’ Dr Herman said. ‘‘This is going to have a major, major effect on care delivery to the patients of the North. ‘‘There are going to be huge delays in care.’’ Dr Herman said it appeared to be an economic proposal, made because the acute medical unit required less staff-per-bed than the cardiac unit. But he said cardiac patients would likely be stuck waiting in emergency or could be sent to Hobart if it had capacity, as the wards were often full and he could not treat them if there was not a bed to put them in afterwards. He said this would drive up costs, as patients waited in hospital for longer. A report by The Heart Foundation this year found Tasmania had the country’s highest rate of cardiovascular disease, and Dr Herman said 2014 had been the unit’s busiest year yet. Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation state secretary Neroli Ellis said nurses were ‘‘outraged’’ by the lack of consultation involved in the decision, which put front-line speciality nurses at risk. ‘‘Nurses are calling on the government to intervene to protect the Northern cardiac services,’’ Mrs Ellis said. Health Minister Michael Ferguson did not comment, but THO North chief executive John Kirwan said the department of medicine had been invited to submit alternative budget savings strategies if it disagreed with the proposal.
LAUNCESTON General Hospital’s head of cardiology has warned that acute cardiac services will deteriorate if the busy department loses two beds in an attempt to find budget savings.
Brian Herman said Tasmanian Health Organisation North was looking to cut costs by moving two beds from the LGH’s six-bed Northern cardiac care unit to its acute medical unit.
Brian Herman
Dr Herman said the cardiac unit provided quick, immediate care to serious North and North-West cardiac patients, with many admitted and discharged within 24 hours.
But he said the unit could not continue to meet increasing demand if it lost two beds, as it already operated at more than 100 per cent capacity due to its fast turnover.
‘‘Two beds might not sound like a lot, but when it’s one-third of what you have, that’s a really significant impact,’’ Dr Herman said.
‘‘This is going to have a major, major effect on care delivery to the patients of the North.
‘‘There are going to be huge delays in care.’’
Dr Herman said it appeared to be an economic proposal, made because the acute medical unit required less staff-per-bed than the cardiac unit.
But he said cardiac patients would likely be stuck waiting in emergency or could be sent to Hobart if it had capacity, as the wards were often full and he could not treat them if there was not a bed to put them in afterwards.
He said this would drive up costs, as patients waited in hospital for longer.
A report by The Heart Foundation this year found Tasmania had the country’s highest rate of cardiovascular disease, and Dr Herman said 2014 had been the unit’s busiest year yet.
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation state secretary Neroli Ellis said nurses were ‘‘outraged’’ by the lack of consultation involved in the decision, which put front-line speciality nurses at risk.
‘‘Nurses are calling on the government to intervene to protect the Northern cardiac services,’’ Mrs Ellis said.
Health Minister Michael Ferguson did not comment, but THO North chief executive John Kirwan said the department of medicine had been invited to submit alternative budget savings strategies if it disagreed with the proposal.
