Tasmania's Launceston General Hospital is currently operating at impacted capacity, with officials urging patients to visit only in medical emergencies. Health Secretary Dale Webster stated on Tuesday evening, "The Launceston General Hospital is currently experiencing high demand for services, particularly patients with acute health needs. At present, clinical services are being managed at the hospital but capacity is impacted, limiting our ability to admit more patients."

Mr. Webster advised those unable to secure timely general practitioner appointments to use the state's eight bulk-billed Medicare Urgent Care Clinics.

The Tasmanian branch of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation reported that only three beds were available across the entire hospital on Tuesday evening. Branch secretary Emily Shepherd described the hospital as being at "critical capacity both in the emergency department but more broadly right across the hospital."

She attributed the situation to "ongoing access and flow block," explaining, "Effectively, there's exceeding demand for health care through the Launceston General Hospital and insufficient capacity and flow."

Last week, the union reported the emergency department was overflowing, describing conditions as "chaotic" and "unsafe." The union anticipates the situation will worsen and has called on Tasmanian Health Minister Bridget Archer to implement concrete solutions to address the ongoing capacity issues.

Sources