Labor has rounded on Tasmania's Health Minister, Michael Ferguson, after the emergency medicine training accreditation was stripped off Launceston General Hospital following the departure of all but two ED doctors.

Doctors say loss of accreditation will become a signficant issue for patient care. ( ABC News: Ross Marsden )

Nurses and doctors have complained about overcrowding at the northern facility for years, with several specialist doctors resigning over conditions 18 months ago.

Several other doctors also retired, leaving just two of the 11 doctors in emergency.

Dr Stuart Day, from the Australian Medical Association, told ABC Hobart it would not affect this year's eight registrars, but would affect interns next year.

"Essentially it's about supervision of those trainees, the inconsistent supervision — and that's about having enough Australian ticketed emergency medicine specialists in their department."

He said the loss of accreditation would become a significant issue for patient care at the LGH "if we cannot turn it around in the next few months and ask the college to review that accreditation".

Dr Day said recruiting people to regional areas was always difficult and the hospital in Tasmania's north has had trouble attracting the required numbers of specialists.

He said LGH's emergency department has managed to recruit more Australian-trained specialists, with one starting next week and another due in the next couple of months.

"But still that won't be quite enough Australian-ticketed specialists in order to keep their accreditation."

There have also been questions about the delivery of physician training at the LGH, as well as concerns about anaesthetic training in the state's north-west.

Dr Day said the administration and governance of the state's health system had been "in shambles for the last couple of years", adding that he hoped a plan to review the management structure would deliver better outcomes.

The downgrade follows the stripping of accreditation for psychiatric training at Royal Hobart Hospital last year.

Dr Stuart Day said the loss was due to having not enough ticketed specialists for supervision. ( Pixabay )

Healthy system in crisis, Opposition claims

Tasmania's Labor Opposition Leader, Rebecca White, said the loss of accreditation highlighted a health system "in crisis".

"Michael Ferguson has presided over a health crisis that's seen a loss of accreditation at the LGH now for another speciality emergency medicine, at a time when our emergency departments are under enormous pressure, ramping is a real problem with the issues we've got with bed block in our hospitals."

Ms White said the loss of training positions would hamper delivery of emergency medical care.

"It's only been under Michael Ferguson's watch that these things have happened. He's not a good Health Minister."

The secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Michael Pervan, said he would work closely with the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) to restore accreditation.

"We recognise that there are some historical challenges to recruiting specialists in regional areas, but they are issues we will need to overcome," he said.

"I have assured ACEM that the Tasmanian Health Service will do all that it can to work with the college to address this issue and have accreditation restored."

Mr Pervan said the decision would not impact on patient care at the LGH.

State Government pushing recruitment plans

Health Minister Michael Ferguson fronted the media on Thursday afternoon, saying he wanted the accreditation restored.

"I am very concerned about this and disappointed to see the withdrawal occur," he said.

Mr Ferguson said the difficulty in recruiting specialists was an issue in every health jurisdiction, particularly in regional areas.

Labor has laid the blame at the feet of Health Minister Michael Ferguson (centre). ( ABC News )

"Recruitment to specialised areas is a real challenge and there has been some success of this in our Tasmanian health system, and we want to magnify and improve our performance in this," he said.

Mr Ferguson said the State Government was pushing ahead with establishing a Workforce Recruitment Retention and Planning Unit, which was announced during the election.

"This is about producing a special unit that has never been done before in Tasmania which will ultimately result in a 20-year workforce plan," he said.

"So we can have all of the very best people able to address systemic issues, that are facing recruitment challenges … to ensure we get the staff that we require."

Mr Ferguson said no extra resources would be needed to set up the unit.