Parliamentary Inquiry needed into Royal Hobart Hospital beds crisis

• Staff concerns over the past 18 months have been ignored
• Health Minister failed to act despite clear evidence of beds crisis
• Formal inquiry only way to establish how Minister failed staff and patients
Health Minister Michael Ferguson’s comprehensive failure to address the escalating beds crisis at the Royal Hobart Hospital needs to be investigated before a Parliamentary Inquiry.
Labor Leader Rebecca White said deeply frustrated frontline health staff who had been forced to work with totally inadequate resources now needed answers as to how and why the Minister had refused to listen and act.
“The situation at the Royal Hobart Hospital has become so disastrous that very pertinent questions now require answers instead of government spin,” Ms White said.
“A Parliamentary Inquiry could look at how Minister Ferguson allowed the beds situation at the RHH to descend into a crisis when frontline staff have been giving him clear warnings for 18 months now.
“How will the Emergency Department staff be able to cope as we head toward winter?
“How can staff be assured that the government is addressing this serious situation when they know the Minister received a report on access to the ED last August but did not release it until he was compelled to under RTI in late February?
“There is a high level of anxiety among staff because patients are having to wait far too long to be admitted to a bed.
“While the hospital is regularly at Level 3, the THS is looking at implementing a Level 4 escalation policy because the situation is so bad.
“These are serious questions that require answers and, given the level of secrecy and dishonesty demonstrated by Minister Ferguson, the only way to get to the bottom of how we reached this crisis and to find solutions is to establish a Parliamentary Inquiry which would listen to frontline staff concerns and properly investigate.”
Rebecca White MP Labor Leader