I’m proud to announce our plan to invest $2.75 million annually to expand the Mental Health Emergency Response service to operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week across the state.
A report on government services data shows that in 2018‑19, the 90th percentile response time for emergency incidents in the Hobart area was 21 minutes, but in 2022-23 it had increased to 31 minutes - a 10-minute, 48 per cent increase - in just five years and we've also seen our statewide results rapidly worsening over the same period. We know in an emergency, every single minute counts, but thousands of Tasmanians every year are waiting longer and longer for an ambulance when they need it the most. Has the department done any work to understand the impact that lengthening response times may have had on patient outcomes or to assess in any way the harm that's being caused by these lengthening delays, so kind of following through after the delays and seeing the impact?
So what was the total number of paramedic shifts that were worked in 2023‑24? And what was the total number that went unfilled. And again, could we get that in raw terms, please, not percentages?
The Coroner has effectively put the Rockliff Government on notice over the mental health of paramedics.
We really hear the pain of doctors, nurses, midwives and paramedics and what frustrates us so much is that the Government has things it can do.
On the Saturday night, the day after, 14 May, there were no ambulances staffed at Huonville again, Dodges Ferry again and then at Glenorchy.
One of the very large issues which has changed is the casualisation of much of the paramedic graduate workforce.
Words cannot do justice to the truly dire state of Tasmania's ambulance service.
Last year in budget Estimates we asked the Minister to provide data for the number of code blue events that had occurred on the ramp at the Royal.
Every Tasmanian knows Ambulance Tasmania is an essential part of our health system, and that paramedics do an incredible job of looking after our community.