The Tasmanian Government has again called on the Federal Government to take action to address the ongoing issue of patients who are medically ready to be discharged from hospital but who face long delays as they wait for a residential aged care place or National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) access and supports.
Minister for Health, Mental Health and Wellbeing, Bridget Archer, said our Government continues to advocate for improved health outcomes for all patients across our hospitals, with new data soon to be published regularly to report on this issue.
"This is a significant problem in Tasmania, and it impacts patient access and flow in our hospitals, congesting our Emergency Departments and causing ambulance transfer of care delays,'' Minister Archer said.
"Aged care and the NDIS are the responsibility of the Federal Labor Government, and we are again calling on them to take ownership of this issue and to take decisive action to address it.
"While this issue is beyond the control of the Tasmanian health system, we are having to deal with the impacts across our hospitals every day.
"At a point in time during August, there were 111 patients across our four major hospitals – Royal Hobart Hospital, Launceston General Hospital, North West Regional Hospital and Mersey Community Hospital – who were medically ready for discharge but were waiting for a residential aged care placement or NDIS access and supports.
"Through no fault of their own, these Tasmanians are ready to leave hospital but cannot be discharged, sometimes for weeks and even months at a time.
"This delay is not acceptable for these patients, who deserve to be recovering at home, in the best interests of their health and wellbeing.
"We call on the Federal Government to step up and tackle this issue as a priority, and we will continue to advocate for better outcomes for all patients across our hospitals."
The Department of Health regularly monitors hospital discharge delays relating to access to residential aged care facilities and NDIS access and supports. From Friday 12 September, a monthly update will be published to the existing Health Dashboard to better inform the Tasmanian community about this issue and its impact on our hospital system.
Minister Archer said the reporting of this data would further increase transparency in the health services provided in Tasmania, with the Health Dashboard now reporting a higher level of information than ever before.
The Health Dashboard is published here: Health System Dashboard | Tasmanian Department of Health
