Ambulance ramping at hospitals in Tasmania will be investigated by an inquiry after a coronial report criticised care provided to a grandmother who died after waiting eight hours for a bed.
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Anne Helen Pedler, 71, was found to have received substandard treatment after arriving at the Launceston General Hospital by ambulance in August 2022.
Mrs Pedler was awaiting an emergency department bed and under the care of Ambulance Tasmania when she suffered a cardiac arrest and died.
In November 2022, an 80-year-old woman died at the Royal Hobart Hospital after being ramped for two hours.
Ramping occurs when someone is taken to hospital by ambulance but cannot be admitted to the emergency department because there are no beds available.
Tasmania's lower house of parliament unanimously agreed to set up a parliamentary inquiry on Wednesday after the proposal was brought forward by the Greens.
Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff said fewer than eight per cent of patients arriving to Tasmanian hospitals by ambulance in 2015/16 were ramped.
"The number now is close to 40 per cent," she told state parliament.
"We don't accept that nothing can be done to improve the situation."
Newly appointed Health Minister Guy Barnett said the state Liberal government welcomed the inquiry.
He said the Tasmanian Health Service (THS) was aware of the challenges across the nation surrounding ambulance transfer of care.
"(The THS) is working with clinicians, paramedics and health care professionals across the board to address the issue," he said in a statement.
"We know our emergency departments are under strain, particularly when four out of 10 cases presenting are not urgent.
"The federal government must do more to ensure Tasmanians have increased access to GPs.
"So-called 'bed block' is being made more acute by NDIS and aged-care patients who cannot be discharged due to a lack of placement and support outside the hospital system."
Australian Associated Press
