'Unsafe' conditions prompt paramedics to stop treating patients outside of ambulances at Royal Hobart Hospital

Paramedics plan to stop working in the ramping area of the Royal Hobart Hospital from Friday due to ongoing health and safety concerns, according to a leaked email provided to the ABC. Key points: Paramedics direct staff to ban ramping at the Royal Hobart Hospital due to ongoing safety concerns Patients will instead be cared for in ambulances A letter describes unsafe working conditions The email by Ambulance Tasmania's Southern Region HSR Group, a group of operations staff that monitors work health and safety issues, was sent to staff and the organisation's management late yesterday, and directs staff to cease working in the RHH's ramping area from Friday. The letter states Ambulance Tasmania has told staff they can not resolve the issues related to ambulance ramping, "despite the department's own policy requiring activities assessed as having an extreme risk rating be immediately ceased, with significant controls enacted prior to resumption of that activity." "Examples include a code black situation where an AT paramedic was forced to physically apprehend a fleeing mental health patient who was under protective custody; a domestic violence victim being subjected to forensic photography of her injuries in a public thoroughfare; a patient suffering serious traumatic injuries after they fell whilst being toileted; overdosing of patients as a result of AT and hospital staff treating the same patient independently and failing to communicate," the letter states.