Road safety concerns for health workers raised after death of cardio-thoracic registrar.
It is both sad and worrying to hear of the tragic death of cardio-thoracic registrar Dr Artyom Avetisyan traveling back late at night from the Launceston General Hospital.
It is understood that Dr Avetisyan had worked long shifts on consecutive days at the Royal Hobart then Launceston General Hospitals.
Often health workers must drive long distances to provide clinical care to our dispersed population. As a former manager of a health professional team, that safety issue was front of mind for me. I saw fatigue and car travel as the greatest risk of injury for my team. It was important to ensure rostering allowed for adequate travel time.
I had also called for mandatory driver safety training for allied health professionals.
Doctors, nurses and allied health professionals often travel to deliver health care services at community centres, and regional hospitals. Many clinicians based in Hobart cover clinics in the north and north-west. Long drives combined with fatigue from long shifts elevate the risk of accidents.
Previously there have been serious injuries from road accidents. Some years ago, a group of Podiatrists in the north-west were injured in a motor vehicle accident. Apart from the trauma to those health workers, this had significant impact on provision of care in an already stretched service.
My question to the Minister is what is in place to keep health workers safe when driving for work? Are mandatory protocols, appropriate guidelines, training and risk management in place to ensure the risks of driving after long shifts is mitigated?
Providing driver training must be a consideration when expecting employees to drive long distances.
Everyone has the right to be safe at work. I believe the Health Department has a responsibility and management’s duty of care.
My heart goes out to family, colleagues and friends of this International Medical Graduate, Dr Avetisyan, who was doing his job and should have returned home safely.