Labor says close to two-thirds of the most urgent emergency patients at Tasmania’s two biggest hospitals were not seen within recommended times in October.
Labor MP Sarah Lovell said the opposition compiled the figures from daily Tasmanian Health Service data because the government’s switch to daily reporting made it harder to track performance over time.
“They claim to be transparent. It’s anything but transparent,” she said.
At the Royal Hobart Hospital, 41% of category 2 patients were seen on time, according to Labor’s figures.
That category covers imminently life-threatening conditions and very severe pain. The Launceston General Hospital recorded 39%.
For category 3 patients, whose conditions are potentially life-threatening, the figures were 22% in Hobart and 26% in Launceston.
Labor also said 35% of patients statewide were ramped for longer than 45 minutes. Lovell said the median ambulance response time was around 17 minutes, up from just over 15 minutes in 2024-25.
“The data is absolutely getting worse and that is what the government don’t want people to see,” she said.
Health Minister Bridget Archer said the figures would improve if the federal government took “meaningful action” on aged care. She said 60 patients were stuck at the Royal Hobart Hospital awaiting placements.
“This is the single biggest issue facing every hospital in the country right now and every State and Territory is saying it, including Labor states,” she said.
Lovell said the federal government probably needed to do more but aged care was “not the only contributing factor”. She said Labor backed calls for a commission of inquiry into the health system.
Archer rejected the idea, “We don’t need to spend $30 million on a COI to tell us what the solution is – we need immediate action to increase aged care beds from the federal government,” she said.
She said Labor figures who were “too gutless to stand up to Canberra” should reconsider their positions. She said the government had moved from publishing health data quarterly to monthly and now daily.
