00:02Paramedics raising the alarm about a new policy at the Mersey Community Hospital.
00:08How can we be bypassing to a hospital that can't cope?
00:11For the past few weeks, complex cardiac patients have been diverted from the Mersey in La Trobe to the Launceston
00:18General Hospital,
00:20with ambulances spending an extra two hours on the road.
00:23That's meaning that ambulance response times are further delayed and we know that the LGH is not in a position
00:29to cope with the extra influx of these patients.
00:32Earlier this week, the LGH hit capacity, limiting its ability to admit more patients, with people urged only to attend
00:41for emergencies.
00:43At a time when the LGH is under such enormous strain, you would think the government would be doing everything
00:48they can to keep patients away from there.
00:51Labor has been told by Mersey Hospital staff the diversion is part of a six month pilot.
00:57But no one, including the workers, seems to know why this is happening.
01:02They were notified through a briefing that came out via email.
01:06They haven't been given an explanation as to why this decision has been made.
01:10When the ABC asked the Health Department why it was diverting patients from the Mersey and how long it would
01:16be in place,
01:17it did not reveal that it was part of a six month trial.
01:20Instead, a spokesperson said it was a standard operational approach designed to optimize appropriate and timely care.
01:28A copy of the pilot program obtained by the ABC says the Mersey is not equipped to look after patients
01:35with complex heart conditions,
01:36so they're already being transferred to the LGH.
01:40It says those transfers can involve significant delays, while this pilot sends them directly to the LGH.
01:47Indeed, it was prettyologia, right?
01:47And I don't think anybody candem quickzeit does seem to help them replicate this process.
01:48But, honestly, we might see up on over even 3 five months from the end of the
01:50list of δια마主 motion.
01:51I complimented the family statement.
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