A re-elected majority Rockliff Liberal Government will move decisively to make ambulance ramping a thing of the past, as part of our 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania’s Future.

“Since our election, we’ve delivered an additional 298 hospital beds and employed an extra 2,500 health professionals including 1,390 nurses – but there’s more work to do and our health system still needs to be better,” Premier Jeremy Rockliff said.

“When there’s an emergency, I know just how important it is to get quick access to an ambulance, and to hospital.

“But sometimes, there’s delays – ramping.

“Ramping is a serious problem - and we’re going to fix it.

“Earlier this month, we announced a new protocol mandating a maximum 60-minute window for all patients arriving by ambulance to be transferred to the care of Emergency Department staff.

“A re-elected majority Rockliff Liberal Government will go one step further – we’re going to reduce this 60-minute window, to 30 minutes.

“Thirty minutes is around the average time it takes an ambulance crew to safely transfer their patient to the care of the hospital.

“Which means that effectively, we’re going to be banning ramping.

“This will mean that Tasmanians in need of emergency care will get the specialist care they need, as soon as possible.

“And our paramedics will be freed up to deal with other emergencies.”

Health Minister, Guy Barnett, said that the initiative would be progressively implemented over the next two years in close consultation with paramedics, medical professionals, and unions.

“The first stage of this policy mandating a 60-minute window for patient transfer will commence in the State’s North West next week, 18th March in the North, and 25 March in the South,” Minister Barnett said.

“We will then move to a 45 minute window in the second half of next year, with the aim of fully implementing the 30 minute transfer window the following year.

“Importantly, to support the implementation of this ramping policy, we are going to be employing an additional 44 new doctors and 25 new nurses to staff the Royal’s expanded Emergency Department, increasing its operational capacity by around 30 percent, 24/7.

“With around 40 per cent of presentations at our EDs currently being from Tasmanians who could be treated by a GP, our new GP Guarantee will also assist in the implementation of this policy by reducing pressure on our State’s Emergency Departments.”

The ramping policy is an important part of the once-in-a-generation package of measures announced today by the Premier to build a better health system.

Along with the Liberals' new GP Guarantee, and massive infrastructure upgrades across the State’s four public hospitals, this ramping policy will help to build an even better health system for all Tasmanians.