Tasmanian hospital staff say government ramping rules threaten patient safety, paramedics disagree

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Emergency department nurses are warning that the Tasmanian government's rules aimed at reducing ambulance ramping are threatening the safety of patients and hospital staff. They're alarmed by a plan to further shorten the time they have to take over care of ambulance patients, but paramedics say measures to reduce ramping are worth it.

Transcript

00:00As Dave Olchen makes his way to work, he expects his day will bring some level of stress.

00:08But lately, the Launceston General Hospital Emergency Department nurse has also felt moral distress.

00:15Like a form of trauma.

00:22Last April, the state government introduced a 60-minute transfer of care protocol,

00:28meaning hospital staff must take over caring for ambulance patients within an hour of arrival.

00:34The nurses' union says this is putting pressure on hospital staff to prioritise treating ambulance patients

00:41over patients in a similar condition who may have been waiting longer.

00:46We know that it is causing further burnout and moral injury to our members in the emergency department.

00:52I think the moral distress from transfer of care has probably been passed from ambulance to nursing.

01:00The protocol hasn't improved ambulance response times, but Tasmanian Health Minister Bridget Archer

01:06says it's reduced the time ambulances have spent ramped by 64%.

01:12We know that there is more work to do, but patients are seen in order of clinical need.

01:18They are triaged when they arrive, regardless of whether they arrive by ambulance

01:22or arrive to the emergency room by some other means.

01:25Minister Archer has now announced the transfer of care window will drop to 45 minutes on December 15th.

01:32The Australian Medical Association, which represents doctors, strongly opposes the move,

01:38saying it can't be safely implemented in hospitals and will be dangerous for patients.

01:43Veteran paramedic Simone Hay doesn't believe the protocol unfairly prioritises ambulance patients

01:50and says ramping also threatens patient and health worker safety.

01:55If we're ramped at the hospital, we can't go and respond to those people who need us in the community.

02:00But she warns there's no easy fix.

02:03To end ramping, they need to overhaul the system.

02:06The system is massively under-resourced and it's inefficient.

02:09On that point, many health workers agree.

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