Further Hospitals Escalation Due to COVID Crisis

Media release – Kathrine Morgan-Wicks, State Health Commander, 1 April 2022

Hospital escalation levels

From 5pm today, the Royal Hobart Hospital and Launceston General Hospital and associated facilities will escalate from level two to level three of their COVID-19 escalation management plans.

This is as a result of the current level of COVID-positive inpatients across the two hospitals and the increasing level of COVID-related staff absences impacting general operations.

I have approved the escalation of both hospitals to level three, following the recommendations of the respective Regional Health Emergency Management Teams earlier today.

COVID-19 escalation management plans provide a framework for hospitals to reconfigure services to manage COVID-related impacts, while ensuring the most critical services continue to be delivered to the community.

The North West Regional Hospital and Mersey Community Hospital will continue to operate at level two of their escalation plans, with the NWRH able to accommodate patient admissions from the North as required.

The escalation of the RHH and LGH to level three of their COVID-19 management escalation plans will include:

• Management and redeployment of staff to ensure core operations are maintained,
• Modifying elective surgery activity to ensure sufficient capacity for emergency surgery,
• Reconfiguration of wards to ensure accessibility for COVID-positive patients,
• Reviewing outpatient activity to ensure continuation of emergency and inpatient care.

Other measures previously in place as part of COVID-19 management escalation level two will remain, which include:

• Unvaccinated visitors will be restricted (unless they have an exemption),
• Patients in the Emergency Department may have one support person, but visitors will not be permitted.

Visiting hours at both the RHH and LGH will remain unchanged.

Members of the public who have medical issues that are not life-threatening and can be treated by a General Practitioner are encouraged to reconsider attending the RHH and LGH Emergency Departments at this time.

There are a range of programs designed to provide Tasmanians with alternatives to attending emergency departments for non-life-threatening medical issues, such as the GP After Hours Support program and Community Rapid Response Service.

Tasmania is experiencing a rise in case numbers with the more transmissible BA2 variant becoming the dominant strain of COVID-19 in the State.

The most important protection for Tasmanians to maintain their level of vaccination and not allow their immunity to wane. Booster vaccination (third dose) is required three months after a second dose of vaccine, and an additional fourth dose of vaccine is also now recommended for vulnerable groups four months after their booster dose. It is also critical for children aged 5-11 to be vaccinated.