Ms ROSOL – Minister, on 8 August 2022, Launceston woman Anne Pedler died at the Launceston General Hospital (LGH) while ramped, and she’d been ramped for eight hours. One of the major issues associated with her death was the lack of 24/7 radiology and pathology services at the LGH. Minister, in August 2023 you met with Mrs Pedler’s daughter, Stella Jennings, and you promised her this issue would be addressed expediently and that the LGH would have these important services 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Does the LGH have those 24/7 services today? If not, is there funding in the latest state Budget to establish them?
Mr BARNETT – Thank you for the question. I want to recognise on the record the sadness and grief of the family concerned. That’s why I took the meeting, as you’ve indicated, and have followed up on that with my department and the chief executive of the Launceston General Hospital, who I also am aware has reached out directly to the family member concerned. I’m certainly aware of that and know that it’s a very important point. I met with Stella Jennings and her husband at that time. As to the detail, I will ask the acting secretary to see if we can add to the answer I’ve provided.
Mr WEBSTER – All of our hospitals have 24‑hour pathology and radiology. It’s not on‑site at the LGH but there is a 15‑minute call-in when it’s required during the late hours of the evening and overnight. That 15 minutes is set into the on‑call arrangements. A number of staff, doctors et cetera, have arrangements in their awards where they have to live within a certain distance of the hospital because of our ability to call them back in. We are confident that that meets the needs of the of the community, particularly because it is such a short period of time for recall.
Ms ROSOL – Stella Jennings has already been through a lot and the saga hasn’t really stopped for her because she is bravely keeping on fighting for these services to be available onsite 24/7, but nothing’s happened with that. She says that you personally promised her that you would get on with the job and make those services available 24/7. She feels sick at the thought that it’s going to happen to someone else because there is not a staff member on site all the time. Would you commit to introducing that 24/7 radiology and pathology on site at the LGH and would you provide a timeframe for when that might start?
Mr BARNETT – I acknowledge again the meeting with Stella Jennings and the follow‑up, and the fact that I’ve had direct contact not only with my department but the CEO of the Launceston General Hospital. To confirm the advice I have and that the acting secretary has provided, there is 24‑hour access to those services. That’s the important thing. We want to deliver better health services faster and I can assure you, as I assure all Tasmanians, that I’ve tasked my department to continue to deliver on this support for Tasmanians in need.
All the recommendations from the report being actioned and progressed are being monitored, including how to improve the process to request urgent diagnostic testing and increased education of staff to ensure greater awareness of the requirements for escalating patient cases. A number of measures are also being progressed across the health system to improve access to our hospitals and address the issue of transfer of care delays, such as our transfer of care delay protocol that is already seeing improvements and boosting availability of healthcare options in the community. Was the meeting very productive? We followed up on that, implementing reforms and improvements on the way through. I can also indicate there’s further reforms that will continue. I will pass to the acting secretary to add to my answer.
Mr WEBSTER – The minister recently opened the second cath lab at the LGH, which has increased our ability to undertake those activities. We’ve doubled our capacity for cardiology activities at the LGH and that’s directly relevant in this case.
