Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) President Dr Simon Judkins said: “The Budget does not go far enough to address existing resource pressures that are further undermined by increased patient demand for emergency care.”
“This places an unfair burden on staff to scramble to find solutions rather than strategically respond to rises in demand. It also impacts their ability to reduce the risk of harm to patients.”
“We have repeatedly said we are keen to work with the government, hospital leadership and health department executives to develop the actions to improve patient outcomes. We stand by this commitment and would welcome the government working with us to achieve these ends."
Before and after this year’s State Election, ACEM spoke out about serious workforce issues, saddled with health policies which are insufficient to mitigate and address existing demand pressures.
ACEM Tasmania Faculty Chair Dr Brian Doyle said: “Emergency department overcrowding and access block (admitted patients cannot get a bed in another part of the hospital) remain significant issues. More needs to be done to reduce patient risk of poorer outcomes, and to support emergency physicians by providing safe workplaces that value clinical expertise in decision making outcomes.”
Dr Judkins added: “We look forward to a productive, closer working relationship with the department following the imminent July 1 changes in health structure that will see the Tasmanian Health System report directly to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
“ACEM is optimistic this will lead to greater collaboration to improve patient outcomes.”
Contact
Andre Khoury
ACEM Public Affairs Manager
03 8679 8813
0498 068 023
[email protected]