A health summit aimed at addressing access block at the Royal Hobart Hospital must set a platform for better outcomes for all Tasmanians, according to stakeholders.
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On Wednesday Health Minister Michael Ferguson will co-host a meeting with the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine.
ACEM Tasmania chairwoman Dr Marielle Ruigrok said while focused on the RHH, agreed actions would be assessed based on the ability to improve care statewide.
"Our data consistently shows Launceston General Hospital and Royal Hobart Hospital have the worst performing examples of access block, emergency department overcrowding, and ambulance ramping in the country," she said.
"There is no single reason for this, and there is no single solution."
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Mr Ferguson said the meeting was about "bringing together the right minds to find more practical solutions, which we will then implement".
"I'm genuinely pleased to help bring the right people together, focused on people and solutions not blame games," he said.
The access solutions meeting was brought forward to June, with ACEM outspoken in its calls for urgent action around staffing levels and increased bed capacity in all Tasmanian hospital wards.
It also follows the release of a damning independent report on the state's health system, by Tasmania's Auditor General.
The meeting will be attended by stakeholders including representatives from the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, Australian Medical Association, Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and the Health and Community Services Union.
AMA Tasmania spokesman Dr Frank Nicklason said the meeting would be a chance to listen, learn and contribute to solutions.
"It is well documented that patients across Tasmania are subjected to ongoing hospital access block, preventing them from receiving timely hospital care in the right location within the prescribed time frames," he said.
"Moving forward, hospital staff need to be given access to high-quality data and data analytics to allow clinicians to drive both high-quality care and service efficiency.
"AMA Tasmania hopes the summit will be a forum for frank discussion around the need for increases in the number of public hospital beds to help our EDs to cope with the community's requirement for hospital access."
Jessica Willard
Being a health reporter to me is about more than just reporting the problems. It's about asking why they are happening in the first place and what needs to change to fix it.
Being a health reporter to me is about more than just reporting the problems. It's about asking why they are happening in the first place and what needs to change to fix it.
