Patient waiting for treatment overdoses at Tasmanian hospital

A select committee was established earlier this year to inquire into delays with patient transfers in hospitals amid increasing pressures on emergency departments and long waits in the care of paramedics to get access to a bed.

Fifty-seven submissions to the committee have been published with a substantial amount of these from patients who have been ramped, family members of patients and health care workers.

One paramedic, Cam Johnson, told of being dispatched to a motorbike accident where he administered fentanyl to treat pain.

After a patient handover, Mr Johnson learnt the next day that another paramedic had administered more fentanyl to the patient while ramped and further analgesia was given to the patient, identified as patient Y, at the same time.

"The patient was subject to an adverse event through the administration of too much narcotic medication by two separate agencies at the same time," he said.

"Luckily patient Y recovered from this overdose."

A Launceston General Hospital health worker submitted that waiting times for emergency department patients to be treated were the worst they had been in 15 years.

"You expect quality care and good decision-making in a very suboptimal environment where the basic work cannot be done and expect no deaths," they said.

"You expect no mistakes.

"You set the staff up to fail with a patient who is sick who cannot be examined."

One patient told of being taken to the LGH by ambulance from the East Coast slipping in and out of consciousness with a fever, abdominal pain and while experiencing hallucinations.

They said they arrived at the hospital on September 5 and were admitted to the emergency department on September 8.

"I saw three sunrises from within the LGH waiting room and only then was seen to by emergency staff," they said.

The Greens in parliament this year moved a motion to establish the inquiry.

This was after the ninth coronial finding against the Launceston General Hospital in six years.

Greens member Vica Bayley said adverse outcomes for ramped patients became more common each year.

"We know the submissions to the inquiry are only the tip of the iceberg with an average of nearly 2000 people now subjected to ramping every month in Tasmania," he said.

Premier Jeremy Rockliff said there were pressures on the health system in every state and territory.

"We are doing well under the circumstances," he said.