The event, co-hosted in Hobart by the state government and the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine, has brought together health sector 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.

Health Minister Michael Ferguson said no one from the political classes or health disciplines could walk away from the serious challenges facing the sector.

"Our contribution is about bringing you here and inviting you to give the solutions that are no doubt burning in your soul that you wish someone would listen to," Mr Ferguson said.

"I welcome everybody's contribution that I know are going to be very meaningful, but they are only going to be meaningful if they are challenging to all of us."

ACEM president Dr Simon Judkins said the summit should be about solutions not individual agendas.

"I would hope what happens here would have a ripple effect across other Tasmanian hospitals," Dr Judkins said.

Dr Judkins said access block was a whole of hospital issue that all leaders needed to take responsibility for.

"We need to be accountable for running the best system we can," Dr Judkins said.

"The stark reality is - if we focus all of our efforts on arguing for more beds instead of changing the way we do thins around here you can bet in two years time we will have the same problems, the same waits and the same adverse events. In fact, we will be worse off because we will have failed again."

"We in this room need to empower each other and those not in this room to drive these whole of hospital improvements," Mr Ferguson said.

Prior to the summit, Labor's health spokeswoman Sarah Lovell said she did not want the meeting to just be a talk-fest.

"At the end of Wednesday's meeting we need to have some clear initiatives that we can implement straight away in order to take pressure off our hospitals and improve health care for all Tasmanians," Ms Lovell said.

Meanwhile, in the state's North-West, the North West Regional Hospital's intensive care unit director has resigned.

A Tasmanian Health Service spokesman said the resignation would have minimal clinical impact and the ICU would continue to function as normal.

"Additional staffing is in place to cover this position which is being advertised immediately," the spokesman said.

"Staff have the right to make decisions about their employment and those decisions are a matter for the individual."

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