Legislative Council, Tuesday 22 November 2022

Ms FORREST (Murchison) - Mr President, I wish to use this opportunity to speak on adjournment about ambulance services and availability of paramedics in the Circular Head region. In doing this, I acknowledge the amazing work our paramedics do in our region, and particularly the volunteers who we rely on so heavily in our regions.

I was somewhat disturbed to read this letter to the editor in the Circular Head Chronicle. I have since had communication from the Circular Head Chronicle itself, seeking to get a response. I will read in the letter to the Editor, and I hope that members will see that this should surprise us all that in a community as large as Circular Head a member of our community has experienced this. It was written on 15 November 2022 by Scott Tuffnall from Smithton:

I write this letter in the hope that perhaps it may constitute some action or at the very least bring awareness to a very real problem in Circular Head. The lack of ambulances or Ambulance Crews is a growing problem that I experienced firsthand this week. On visiting the Smithton Hospital, having suffered severe uncontrollable abdominal pain, I was advised by the nurses and doctor to go to the Burnie Hospital to have a CT scan and find out what was going on. This was about 8pm. An ambulance was called but unfortunately there were none available on what was termed a busy night. So, we mutually agreed to drive down ourselves. I was in no shape to drive doubling in agony, so my wife Caroline drove us. The nurses advised us if my pain became intolerable to call an ambulance as we got closer to Rocky Cape. Eventually the pain became excruciating, and Caroline pulled over and called an ambulance. The 000-call attendant advised us to stay in a spot where the ambulance could easily find us. So, we waited and a few minutes later the 000 attendant called back apologising that there were no ambulances available. So, Caroline had no choice but to drive me into the emergency section, and I rode out the pain as best I could.

Obviously, Mr President, with no pain relief.

Later the next morning I found out I had kidney stones, described by some as the male equivalent of giving birth. My point is that I was able to make it to the hospital thanks to having access to a car driven by a loving wife, but how could I have got there if she had not been available. Ambulances are an essential service and Circular Head seems to be losing quality services over the last two years. We have 2 banks closing down making it difficult for many in our community. Our community consists of taxpayers who pay the same taxes as other communities but for no particular reason we are being given a raw deal in Circular Head. I am grateful for the medical benefits that we have in Smithton and Burnie with 2 excellent hospitals and consistent quality nurses and doctors, but can we please do something about the lack of crews in the ambulance service before somebody dies.

That was his letter. I found it disturbing that when someone has an urgent medical problem and he is advised to call 000 if it gets to that point, that he is then told there are no ambulances available.

In the email I received today from the Circular Head Chronicle alerting me to this, they wrote, and it is a little bit repetitive, and I apologise for that, I think it is the editor, but anyway, they wrote:

The situation surrounding the shortage of Ambulances in the Circular Head region has come to the forefront yet again …

Members will remember, I have raised this in the past, particularly on wait times. I talked about an older lady who actually ended up dying after they called an ambulance. Four hours they waited, and in the end the daughter decided to try to deal with her elderly mother at home, cancelled the ambulance. The ambulance arrived six or eight hours later, whatever it was, and her mother subsequently died, not necessarily from the lack of ambulance, but clearly, she needed medical attention.

I will go back to the communication from the Circular Head Chronicle and he spoke about:

… with local resident, Scott Tuffnell, penning a letter to the editor, printed in this week's edition of The Chronicle. In the letter, Tuffnell states that he was experiencing severe abdominal pain and after attending the Smithton Hospital, was advised to continue to the Burnie Hospital to receive a CT scan. After calling an ambulance, the Tuffnell's were advised that none were available. Tuffnell also claims that he was advised by the nurse on duty at the Smithton Hospital that if the pain worsened, to try again as they got close to Rocky Cape. Once at Rocky Cape, again,the Tuffnell's were advised there were no ambulances available. Unfortunately, this situation is not uncommon in our community, however, this is the first time we have been contacted formally addressing this issue. Since last Wednesday, The Chronicle have attempted to contact Ambulance Tasmania to be able to provide information to the Circular Head community regarding this matter, and to address the seriousness of the overall shortage. Their Media and Communications Manager was very forthcoming as we gave the organisation the right of reply to Tuffnell's letter. We gave them an opportunity to respond by the deadline of 3pm Monday,

This is Wednesday, the week before, to 3 p.m. Monday.

That was extended until 10am on Tuesday [this week], the time this newspaper goes to print.

This is today we are talking about, Mr President.

The final correspodence stated that the media team wished to make changes to their final statement and could we extend the deadline another hour. In a letter printed in the Tasmanian Times in February, an anonymous paramedic stated that emergency response times had continued to deteriorate, with a report on government services finding that for the seventh year in a row, Ambulance Tasmania provides the slowest response for lights and sirens jobs of any ambulance service. The article went on to say, more worryingly, the emergency response times have gotten worse, deteriorating by than more than 10 minutes in 10 years, from 17.1 minutes in 2011 to 27.9 minutes in 2021. With no ambulances this side of Rocky Cape, our region certainly adds to the average wait time, through no fault of our own.

I know there is an ambulance station near the Smithton Hospital that is staffed by volunteers. I am not entirely sure how this situation could have occurred and I urge Ambulance Tasmania to respond, either through this process, that the Leader, I am sure, will take back to the Premier and Minister for Health; but I am sure The Chronicle will remain interested. I want to add that:

The Chronicle does not suggest any paramedic is to blame for the current shortage and we continue to seek answers before the consequences become fatal.

All of us understand the pressures on our health system generally and on our paramedics, but to think the community of Circular Head, who have limited access to health services, particularly after hours. You cannot be admitted to the hospital there without a doctor, like a GP, from Ochre medical practice overseeing that. When your situation is obviously much more dire and you need urgent care, one would hope that an ambulance could get there at a reasonable time, rather than to call 000 to be told there are no ambulances available.

Put yourself in that situation, Mr President. I think none of us would believe that to be acceptable. I find it staggering that was the advice provided. If that was the reality, it is very frightening for a community that have an ageing demographic.