People are dying waiting for ambulances while Peter Gutwein and Sarah Courtney fail to take action to protect Tasmanians.
Shadow Health Minister Dr Bastian Seidel said the latest incident this week of a patient dying while waiting for an ambulance was inexcusable.
“This is a devastating incident and is indicative of a health system in crisis,” Dr Seidel said.
“Minutes can make all the difference to whether someone lives or dies and it is disgraceful that patients are having to wait too long for an ambulance because they are all ramped at the Royal Hobart Hospital.
“We also heard news this week of an elderly Brighton woman having to wait almost seven hours in excruciating pain for an ambulance to arrive after she fell and broke her pelvis in three places – the delay was again blamed on ramping at the RHH.
“These shocking incidents come a week after the government started rolling out secondary triage which was supposed to alleviate ramping – clearly this is not working.
“Our ambulance crews are doing a fantastic job in extremely difficult conditions. They can’t possibly work any harder and for some, the toll is just too great and their physical and mental health is suffering.
“Meanwhile, our graduate paramedics can’t find jobs in Tasmania and are looking interstate and overseas for work.
“Peter Gutwein and Sarah Courtney continue to use COVID 19 as an excuse, but Tasmanians are seeing through this. Our health system is in a perpetual crisis, yet the Premier just does not seem to care. It’s inexcusable.
“The bottom line is that people are dying – how worse does it need to get before this government finally takes action?”
Dr Bastian Seidel MLC
Shadow Health Minister
