IMPORTANT CIVIC MATTER NEEDS RESPONSE

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• ABC Tasmanian woman waits six months to have gangrenous foot amputated ... Tasmanian pensioner Gail Reynolds is in hospital recovering from the surgery she had to amputate most of her right foot and left big toe after they became gangrenous. Key points Gail Reynolds' surgery for gangrene was delayed three times Her foot was amputated six months after doctors told her she needed the procedure It comes amid increased pressure on the Royal Hobart Hospital, where ED numbers have doubled in the past 12 years Photos of the 70-year-old diabetic's blackened, septic feet are too graphic to be shown. Her family is speaking out, angry and aghast at what has unfolded.... READ ON CLICK HERE

• ABC Woman lashes 'third-world' Tasmanian health system after 34 hours in emergency ... READ ON CLICK HERE

• EXAMINER Emergency department woes at Launceston General Hospital ... An inquiry into the state’s health services has heard the Launceston General Hospital’s emergency department has the highest mortality rate in the state. LGH accident and emergency nurse unit manager Scott Rigby told a Legislative Council sub-committee the hospital’s emergency department had been acknowledged as the worst in the country twice in the past four years. ........... The federal government’s My Hospitals website showed less than half of the patients in need of hospital admission met the four-hour target and 50 per cent of patients waited seven hours and 35 minutes in 2016-17. ........... The department consists of 42 beds with five isolated beds to help with flow-through. ........... "The rest of the beds are mostly full," Mr Rigby said. ........... "The start of the day will have 33 to 36 people in the department and we see 130 a day." ........... He said the LGH had spent the majority of this year at level three escalation, which was known to be the highest level of escalation, primarily because of bed block. ........... Mr Rigby said with bed block, a person in emergency could become even more acutely unwell. ........... "Then you are scrambling to give that person the best care you can," he said. ........... Mr Rigby said nobody had died while waiting for a bed, but the hospital had the highest mortality rate out of all state hospital emergency departments. ........... The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation has provided data to the inquiry which showed up to 16 per cent of admitted patients waiting for at least 24 hours for a bed. ........... Since the start of this year, two patients have waited between 96 and 120 hours, 37 patients waited between 72 and 96 hours, and 47 patients have waited between 60 and 72 hours. ........... The union said mental health patients also experienced long waits in the LGH emergency department. ........... One adolescent spent almost three days in the department with no care plan or a psychiatry team to take over for the patient, it said. ........... Mr Rigby said emergency department workers tended to be used to working in a challenging environment but they were increasingly calling out for more help as they felt strained and isolated. ........... Health Complaints Commissioner Richard Connock told the inquiry on Friday complaints to the commission had increased over recent years in all areas of the health service. ... https://www.examiner.com.au/story/5675379/high-mortality-in-lgh-emergency-department/