After numerous delays and setbacks, the re-elected Liberal government's ambulance 'ramping ban' policy is to begin at Tasmanian hospitals soon, but the union representing nurses claims the new policy won't be a ban.
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Health Minister Guy Barnett said on Monday that the new protocol mandating that all ambulance patients must be transferred to the care of hospital staff within 60 minutes of arrival will commence on April 22.
But his comments came after Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation Tasmania branch secretary Emily Shepherd said the Department of Health had agreed to remove the mandatory component of the protocol.
That means that ambulance patients arriving at the hospital will remain ramped if there is insufficient hospital capacity to take them - in effect, a continuation of the present policy.
"It's no longer a mandate, so the Department agreed to remove the mandatory component of the procedure," she said.
"What this means now is there will be no mandate, the department have indicated that they will be introducing the procedure and working towards reducing the time that patients spend on the hospital ramp."
ANMF members had been concerned that the introduction of a protocol compelling hospital staff to accept care of ambulance patients within 60 minutes of arrival would strain existing patient flow bottlenecks and put lives in danger.
They challenged the introduction of the protocol in the Tasmanian Industrial Commission, blocking its introduction by the Department of Health last month.
They claimed to the Industrial Commission that the government and Department of Health had not properly consulted with doctors and nurses prior to the protocol's intended commencement.
After the Department of Health agreed to remove the mandate last week, Ms Shepherd said health bosses had agreed to focus on the wider problems in the hospital that are contributing to ambulance ramping.
Ms Shepherd anticipated that ANMF members would find the Department's decision to remove the mandate acceptable, obviating the need to press on with Industrial Commission arbitration.
The Liberal government first unveiled the 60-minute protocol in early February, and it subsequently became a key election policy at the state election.
Speaking at the building site of a proposed new '$12 million super' ambulance station in Glenorchy, Mr Barnett dispute the ANMF claim that the removal of the 'mandate' meant the protocol mandate was dead.
"I'm very pleased that the Tasmanian Industrial Commission has agreed for the ramping policy to be implemented as the government outlined during the campaign," he said.
Asked whether the government could still call the procedure a 'ramping ban' if the 60-minute mandate has been removed, Mr Barnett said he wouldn't "quibble around words".
"Rather than use of the word 'mandate' it's 'immediate', and I'm not worried about that one iota.
"We're not going to quibble around whether it is a 'mandate' or whether it is a 'transfer immediately' - what is happening is the ramping will end under our government."
He said the implementation of the protocol would enable all parties, including paramedics and hospital doctors and nurses to work towards reducing the time that ambulance patients spend on the ramp.
A report earlier this year found 136 Tasmanians have died after being ramped at hospitals over the past five years.
