Reducing Tasmania’s Ambulance offload target misses, the real issue
The AMA Tasmania continues to call on both the Federal and State Governments to address the National Health Reform Funding Agreements and work together to clear the hospital logjam. Unless we confront the causes of this gridlock, no change to transfer‑of‑care rules will make meaningful difference.
Tasmania urgently needs a statewide clinical services plan that outlines how we will meet rising demand: what care is delivered, where it is delivered, and by whom. Only with a clear plan and proper funding can activities and outcomes be aligned to the real needs of the system.
Right now, our hospitals are overstretched.
Although health accounts for 34% of the State Budget, years of underinvestment in primary care, prevention, workforce training, technology, and infrastructure have left Tasmania without enough staff, beds, or space to meet the current transfer-of-care benchmark, let alone a shorter one. Patients who do receive a bed are too often placed in non‑specialty wards simply because there is nowhere else for them to go.
Recent claims that ambulance offload times have improved tell only part of the story.
“Of course, we want ambulances back on the road doing the job they’re meant to do, but at what cost if the hospitals behind them are still gridlocked? What happens after a patient is handed over matters just as much.”
Moving people into the emergency department faster solves nothing if the wards behind them are full.
“Clinically, it is like adding to a chronic obstruction; the system is backed up, under pressure and unable to clear, with nowhere for patients to go next.”
With no real release valve, the only option has become delaying or cancelling elective patients, forcing Tasmanians to wait longer simply because the public system cannot keep pace.
“The AMA Tasmania’s position on the government’s proposed change to the Transfer of Care protocol remains unchanged.
“Without a statewide clinical services plan grounded in real demand and clearly defining what care is delivered, where it is delivered, and by whom, while recognising the significant care already provided in private practice and private hospitals no protocol changes should be made.
“Until we identify and address the underlying causes of Tasmania’s hospital logjam, shorter time targets are not only unrealistic but also unsafe. These changes will not improve patient flow. They will only heap more pressure onto an already strained system, increasing the risk of adverse events and accelerating burnout and moral injury across the health workforce.
“Our most urgent task is to understand why patients are staying in hospital longer than they should, and to commit to fixing those issues. Patients and their families must also be part of that conversation especially when it comes to understanding risk, navigating care expectations, and planning for the needs of an ageing population.
“The solution is not faster offloading. The solution is funding and building the capacity, workforce and morale the system needs to function safely and humanely.”>>>ENDS
