Many lessons have already been learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. It has also brought a newfound appreciation for our healthcare workers.
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For anyone who has ever spent time in a hospital, the lifesaving work carried out every day will often go unnoticed by those not immediately impacted. However, when mistakes get made or problems arise, it is often quickly brought to the forefront. This has been the case recently for the Launceston General Hospital.
This week it was the experience of a 72-year-old Invermay man with prostate cancer and type 2 diabetes who waited nine hours for a bed. It was something that left his family dismayed at the state of the hospital and it's likely not an isolated case.
It also came just days after 22 emergency registrars at the LGH penned an explosive letter to the state government claiming patients were dying unnecessarily.
Yes, staff acknowledged the challenges of adhering to COVID-19 social distancing measures were among the heightened strain. However, for the most part issues of bed block at the LGH are longstanding and it's about time they were resolved.
In today's Sunday Examiner, Australian Nursing and Midwifery Tasmania branch secretary Emily Shepherd details the "immeasurable toll" facing LGH nurses. But the pandemic battle facing hospital staff existed long before COVID-19 came into the picture, she says.
There is no denying that the past few months have brought many longstanding issues to the fore. The state government maintains it has a longterm plan to improve Tasmania's health infrastructure. We are already seeing some of this come to light with the development of Ward 4K and the ongoing LGH masterplan. But what about the immediate fixes needed now?
On Friday the Health Department's latest dashboard figures further revealed the strain being experienced statewide. On average people are now waiting 505 days to get into the LGH for an outpatient visit. If your case is considered urgent you will be waiting on average 153 days to get into the LGH, instead of the recommended 30 days. This is not good enough.
However, while it can be easy to get swept up in statistics, it's important not to forget the people behind these numbers. The patients awaiting vital surgeries and the hard working hospital staff who by most accounts are doing their best.
COVID has already shown us the incredible work ethic of our frontline staff.
But it shouldn't take a pandemic to fix longstanding, systemic failures and it certainly shouldn't be used as an excuse by those with the power to implement real and effective change.
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