00:04Tasmania's hospitals are struggling to meet demand.
00:08Last night, the Launceston General Hospital hit capacity.
00:12Patients urged only to attend for emergencies.
00:16Earlier this week, the Northwest Regional Hospital had to transfer patients to other hospitals due to a lack of medical
00:24staff,
00:25while the Royal Hobart Hospital reached capacity a few weeks ago.
00:29We were significantly under-resourced for the amount of people that were needing care in an acute hospital setting.
00:36Jordan Bennett has been working as a nurse at the Royal for more than a decade.
00:41In that time, she's seen it get busier and busier, making it hard to give patients the care they need.
00:48It's incredibly demoralising. There's a lot of days where you consider whether this career was the wrong choice.
00:56We did it in 2018. Still not fixed in 2026.
01:01The nurses' union says there aren't enough hospital beds.
01:04Clearly the Tasmanian health system is on a knife's edge.
01:09The union says with no beds left at the Launceston General, patients were treated in corridors.
01:14Next to nurses' stations and provided a doorbell to be able to alert nursing staff to needing assistance.
01:22The state government says a winter surge, unnecessary emergency presentations and bed block are to blame.
01:29It has found one solution, securing a lease for 20 additional beds for long-stay older patients.
01:36But I am again calling on the federal government to immediately step up to help fund these solutions to the
01:42problems that are of their making.
01:44The government's been given an additional $700 million by the federal government for public hospitals.
01:49But it's also looking to find efficiencies.
01:52In the face of high demand, it continues to defend the cuts.
01:57She is ripping $700 million out of our health system at a time when our health system is under extreme
02:04pressure.
02:06A system at breaking point.
02:08A system at a time when our health system is now available,
02:14You
Comments