The Independent Member for Denison, Andrew Wilkie, has condemned the State Government for ignoring its own report that recommends new ambulance stations and additional crews to improve response times.
``Tasmania has one of the worst capital city response times in the country,’’ Mr Wilkie said. ``But instead of acting, the State Government has sat on a report that recommends a solution to this health problem for two years and the Tasmanian community is paying the price in slower ambulance response times.
``Calling an ambulance can be a life and death situation and Tasmanians should not have to worry whether help is going to show up in time.’’
Ambulance Tasmania commissioned consultants Operational Research in Health Limited to produce the Service Development Planning State-Wide Emergency and Medical Services Final Report that is dated December 2010.
The report says ``the first priority is to raise emergency response standards in Hobart and Launceston by 2011/12. In Hobart this will require three new deployment locations around the existing Hobart, Glenorchy and Mornington stations, and in Launceston two additional locations.’’
The report goes on to say ``there is an associated requirement for an increase in ambulance deployments, totalling a further 222 deployed ambulance hours per week in Hobart and 182 hours in Launceston.’’
Mr Wilkie said in other words the Government’s own expert consultants told it two years ago to build new stations and to put at least another ambulance on the road in the greater Hobart area.
``But here we are, two years down the track, and nothing substantial has changed,’’ he said.
``And don’t be fooled by the Government rhetoric on this matter. Yes there has been some tinkering around the edges with Ambulance Tasmania. But tinkering is all it’s been and the consultants’ identified ‘first priority’ remains unaddressed.
``None of this is to criticise the fine crews who are on the road saving lives every day. They’re doing a marvellous job but there are limits to what they can achieve and this government is pushing them to breaking point.’’
*The Service Development Planning State-Wide Emergency and Medical Services Final Report is available on request.
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Comments (5)
Andrew, just another example of the time and age. We are at the end of the ideological human era, so naturally nothing ideologists do will be successful in any way except delusionary, because their minds are trapped in the primitive past.
I doubt there is one person in Tas politics and for that matter Aus politics, who have a clue as to what needs to be done for our society to evolve positively and happily. The incumbents of every description are only concerned in supporting their 19th century failed ideological beliefs, not the reality of the 21st century.
I wrote a small piece which was published on this site some years ago which was headlined, “a cry from the Heart”, it would be interesting to re-read that and see how close to the mark it was in today’s Tasmania.
If you look at the overall situation, the incumbent la/lib/green coalition is going backwards at a rapid rate and have no positive direction, aims or logical approaches. It’s all about their elitist egocentricity and desperation to cling to power no matter what the consequences for the future. The proof is in the fact they pay huge sums to empty headed fools to run services and infrastructure into the ground, just so they can maintain power.
They are shutting down our police force, destroying our health system, raped our forests, desperately poisoning our land as fast as they can under the guise of non existent fox control. Their insane ideas regarding water supplies in the state which we were told would reduce costs, is about to see massive increases, same with power, food, fuel. On the other hand they’ve pushed the collapse of farming by supporting vested interests instead of the people, ruined our industry and lost export facilities. They privatised our bank so corporate giants could pillage people money with no recourse or consequences. This is the result of self regulation and privitisation and they will do the same with health and the ambulance service, until we end up with nothing, unless you are one of the high paid elite and not just a real person.
This is only the tip of the iceberg when we see the amount of control over our lives multinationals and corporations who control our lives with supposed donations to these primitive elitists parties. Now we have no choice in any thing, its all dictated by corporations and fully supported by the incumbent lab/lib/green coalition.
The ambulance system needs a totally different approach and it has to be incorporated with massive changes in health care approaches. Otherwise no matter how much money you throw at it, things will only get worse.
Ages ago, having witnessed a traffic accident in Mowbray during peak hour and noted the long time it took for an ambulance to arrive from the Kings Meadows base, I suggested that an ambulance and crew could be stationed at either of the Newnham police station or the Rocherlea fire station on roster.
The suggestion was ignored and nothing has happened.
Mike, you know there is now an ambulance stationed at Mowbray, and has been for a few years?
Thanks, A.S. I didn’t know it. Maybe someone listened. Maybe they thought of the idea themselves…Plagiarism is an odd concept.
Don’t assume that because there is an ambulance station somewhere that there is an ambulance and crew sitting there doing nothing!