A national report that has found patients presenting to Tasmanian emergency departments have to wait longer than the rest of Australia shows a demand for beds, the AMA says.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data showed Tasmania had the lowest number of emergency patients admitted in four hours or less in the country.
Health Minister Michael Ferguson said department figures suggested admissions to the state’s hospitals had grown by 20 per cent during the past three years.
“Despite growing demand, the AIHW report shows that a greater proportion of people requiring admission to a hospital bed in Tasmania were admitted within four hours in 2016‑17 than four years ago,” he said.
AMA Tasmania president Stuart Day said the institute report showed Tasmania had “very long waits” for people who needed hospital beds.
“So people get stuck in emergency departments for long times when they’re sorted - all the work’s done, they just need a hospital bed and they’ll go into care,” he said.
“There’s not enough beds, or capacity within a hospital, and these are not people that should be prevented from coming.”
