Media release – Health Consumers Tasmania, 24 January 2024
Ambulance ramping reaches regional Tasmania
Health Consumers Tasmania CEO, Bruce Levett, will give evidence today to the Select Committee on Transfer of Care Delays and talk about the disproportionate impacts of ambulance ramping on regional communities.
“The impact of ambulance ramping reaches deep into regional Tasmania,” Mr Levett said.
“Tasmanians living in the regions do not have the same access to healthcare that people living in urban areas do. Too often the only option regional Tasmanians have is to call an ambulance. They are forced to double guess whether they should call an ambulance, because if they do, they are worried someone else may miss out because they could be ramped.
“Ambulance ramping is really a symptom of broader problems in the system.
“Ambulance ramping shows that Tasmania isn’t doing enough in preventative health, primary health or reforming the way we manage our hospital system.
“What Health Consumers Tasmania is seeing is declining trust in being able to access a GP, declining trust in both the capacity and the timeliness of ambulances arriving, declining trust in whether or not they will even be able to get through the front door at the hospital and admitted to a bed if needed, and declining trust in post-discharge care, including how they will get home.
“Health Consumers Tasmania and those communities we work with are extremely grateful for the hard working ambulance teams, and this is not a reflection on them. The situation has come about because those in the health system have failed to accept the urgent need for reform.
“Since 2004, there have been ten reviews, papers, audits and strategies regarding health reform, but unfortunately nothing has changed.
“What we are urging the Committee to recommend and the Government to implement is better access to health services in regional communities. These communities would like to see better access to GPs, nurse-practitioners or advanced care paramedics locally, especially after hours where for many the only option is to call an ambulance.
“Ultimately though, unless our political leaders and health administrators are prepared to accept that the system is broken and in need of urgent repair, inquiries like this aren’t really going to change anything.”
