While the Tasmanian Health Department and state government maintained the decision wouldn't directly impact on patient care, concerns over future recruitment were wide felt. 

After all, the long term implications of a hospital without emergency medicine trainees was hard to deny.

At its core, training accreditation allowed junior doctors to stay on for training in Launceston. Without it, why would they stay, or come in the first place?

How could this not have an impact on patient care, if not today, but further down the track. We call this the flow-on effect.

At the time the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine maintained it was committed to working with the Tasmanian Health Department, to assist the LGH emergency department in regaining its status. 

On Thursday it was revealed the hospital had achieved just that, thanks largely to the work of emergency department director Lucy Reed. In her own words, the entire team at the LGH emergency department have worked "bloody hard" to implement the necessary changes.

For ACEM to recognise this and reinstate the hospital's accreditation is a massive win for the hospital, and something that must be acknowledged. 

While provisional and pending a final evaluation, the decision means staff can get on with the job of providing training in emergency medicine to junior doctors.

It is easy for good news stories concerning Tasmanian health to get lost or overlooked, especially among the barrage of criticisms facing the health department. 

There will also be many who try to take credit, in the same way people point fingers or speculate blame for the cause of a problem in the first place. 

All of that aside, this announcement is step in the right direction for a better health system and the staff responsible deserve a pat on the back.